Central Highlands gong culture in harmony with contemporary life

March in the Central Highlands is the time before the new crop season, when the weather is dry, flowers bloom, the sky is clear and the sun is mild, suitable for festivals.

This March, along with many unique festivals of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, Dak Lak province organized the 9th Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival in 2025 with the theme "Buon Ma Thuot - Destination of world coffee", taking place from March 9 to 13, 2025 in Buon Ma Thuot city and several localities in the province. Through this Festival, in addition to activities honoring coffee growers and producers, building and promoting the Buon Ma Thuot coffee brand, Dak Lak province, the Festival Organizing Committee focused on promoting communication and spreading widely the cultural beauty imbued with the Central Highlands identity of Dak Lak, especially gong culture to a large number of people, friends, domestic and international tourists. Thereby contributing to further improving the effectiveness of the work of preserving, conserving and promoting the values ​​of the Central Highlands gong cultural heritage in contemporary life.

Since the Cultural Space of Gongs in the Central Highlands was recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 25, 2005, the provinces in the Central Highlands in general and Dak Lak in particular have had many policies, solutions and organized cultural activities to preserve and promote the cultural values ​​of gongs. Notably, since then, the People's Council of Dak Lak province has issued five resolutions on preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of gongs in the Central Highlands in the province. In particular, Resolution No. 10/2021/NQ-HDND, dated December 17, 2021 of the Provincial People's Council on "Preserving and promoting gong culture in Dak Lak province, period 2022-2025", is currently being implemented, thereby contributing to preserving national cultural heritage, actively implementing the commitment in the Dossier submitted to UNESCO on preserving and promoting the Heritage of the Central Highlands Gong Cultural Space in the locality.

Implementing the Resolutions of the Provincial People's Council and the plan of the Provincial People's Committee, up to now, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and districts, towns and cities have provided hundreds of sets of gongs and traditional costumes to ethnic villages; at the same time, organized more than 130 classes to teach gong playing; restored more than 140 traditional rituals and festivals associated with gongs; organized regular performances of two gong cultural programs a month to serve the people and tourists at the Provincial Cultural Center and organized many activities related to the preservation of gong culture.

Providing support for gongs, costumes, and musical instruments according to the actual needs of cultural entities to promote the cultural, material, and spiritual values ​​of gongs in the community and life, with priority given to typical gong teams with knowledgeable artisans who know how to play traditional gongs and regularly participate in local activities.

With such practical support, gong culture is "reviving" in the lives and activities of ethnic minorities, especially completely solving the problem of "bleeding" of gongs...

Below are vivid images of Central Highlands gong culture in Dak Lak in harmony with contemporary life:

For ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, any festival has gongs.

And in community, village or family ceremonies, ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands all play gongs.

When hearing the gong ring, villagers will know if there is happy or sad news in the village or family.

Implementing the Resolutions of the Dak Lak Provincial People's Council and the plan of the Provincial People's Committee to preserve and promote the Central Highlands Gong Cultural Space Heritage, up to now, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and districts, towns and cities have provided hundreds of sets of gongs and traditional costumes to ethnic minority villages.

Along with providing gongs and traditional costumes for typical village art troupes, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province also organized more than 130 gong playing classes for young people in villages and schools.

Thanks to that, many young people know how to play gongs and often participate in gong performances in village events and festivals.

Along with that, in recent years, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province has restored more than 140 traditional rituals and festivals associated with gongs, contributing to preserving and promoting the value of gong culture.

In recent years, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province has also organized regular performances of gong cultural programs twice a month to serve the people and tourists at the Provincial Cultural Center and organized many activities related to the preservation of gong culture.

Organizing regular performances of two gong cultural programs a month to serve the people and tourists at the Dak Lak Provincial Cultural Center has brought gong culture into harmony with contemporary life.

Besides, Dak Lak province also regularly organizes Gong Culture Festival among localities in the province.

Through the gong culture festival, we can both inspect the work of preserving gong culture in localities in the province and create conditions for localities in the province to exchange and learn experiences in preserving and promoting gong culture.

This is also an opportunity for artists to show off their gong performance skills.

Gong performances attract many tourists to enjoy and cheer.

When the gong sounds resonate, it attracts tourists to interact with the gong teams and villagers.

Coming to the 9th Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival in 2025, visitors will be immersed in the inviting gong sounds of the ethnic people of Dak Lak province.

And in the gentle, passionate rhythm of the Central Highlands girls.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/van-hoa-cong-chieng-tay-nguyen-hoa-nhip-voi-cuoc-song-duong-dai-242620.html