Lesson 2 - Reviving the festival, keeping the village spirit alive

VHO - There was a time when traditional festivals were only in the memories of the elderly. But with the love of culture and the determination to preserve the national spirit, the village festivals of Thanh Hoa are returning with full vitality, connecting the past, present, and future with the bustling drum beats and sparkling dances in the festival night firelight. There, it is not only the transformation of traditional culture, but also the revival of identity, pride, and community memory.

Identity turns around in the heritage land: Part 1 - Awakening the soul of Thanh land from heritage

The bustling bamboo dance in the traditional festival – a vivid symbol of the revival of festivals in Thanh Hoa villages. Photo: Nguyen Linh

When the village drum beats awaken all memories

“This year’s Muong Kho festival is very crowded. The young people from the old village who now live in the city also pack up and come here. The young people dance with bamboo poles, the old people teach mo. The children even know the new rice offering song...”, an elder in Dien Lu commune (Thanh Hoa), said with emotion.

Not only Muong Kho. Implementing Conclusion No. 82-KL/TU of the Standing Committee of Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee on strengthening the Party's leadership in the work of preserving and promoting the cultural heritage values of Thanh Hoa province, period 2017-2025. Over the past 8 years, a series of traditional festivals that seemed to have fallen asleep in the midst of modern life have suddenly been reawakened: Muong Xia festival associated with the legend of the god Tu Ma Hai Dao , Pon Pong festival, unique folk performances of the Black Thai people, Set Booc May festival, Ca Da festival, the Muong people's harvest festival, the Dao people's Tet Nhay festival... Those rituals, which had been lost due to war, poverty, or social upheavals, are now revived in everyday life.

There, people do not just perform ceremonies. They dance, they sing, they pray, they tell stories. They pass on to each other lullabies, mo sounds, prayers, gong sounds… like streams of memories that never stop flowing. The village festival is no longer a place to display an old identity, but a lively space where each person contributes to preserving the national soul in his or her own way.

Artisans of the Center for Tourism Promotion and Culture, Thanh Hoa Cinema teach Dao ethnic dances to students.

Many elderly artisans are still passionate about teaching singing, weaving ceremonial costumes, erecting poles, and preparing traditional offerings. Some village elders travel from village to village to find lost mo songs.

Young people, who were once reluctant to wear brocade, are now ready to dance on bamboo poles, beat gongs, and pound rice with pestles. Children are gradually learning folk songs from village festivals and playing folk games during the traditional Tet holiday.

During the implementation of Conclusion 82-KL/TU, Thanh Hoa has compiled records and included 27 intangible cultural heritages in the national list, many of which are festivals and folk performances. But behind those numbers are thousands of people who are together preserving a part of the national identity.

Not only restoring the form, the conservation work in Thanh Hoa focuses on restoring the spirit, the core element that makes up the soul of the festival. From the role of the shaman, the artisan, the person offering the ceremony... to the sacrificial language, props, and ancient prayers, all are researched, recorded, compiled, and disseminated back to the community.

Many practical projects have been born such as: "Restoring and promoting the value of typical traditional festivals", "Issuing documents to teach folk rituals", "Digitizing traditional festivals"... There have even been scientific seminars and training courses held in each commune and village to pass on festival organization methods to local people.

A Dao ethnic artisan in Ngoc Lac (old) once choked up and shared: “The Nhang Chap Dao (Dancing Festival) used to be a memory in my mind, but now the children know. I feel like I am no longer alone.”

Village Festival Today – Where “Village” Meets “World”

In the past, traditional festivals often took place quietly in the closed space of each community. But today, village festivals in Thanh Hoa have become cultural meeting places, where not only the community is connected, but also invites visitors from near and far to participate.

Generation after generation – when festivals become a bridge of memories and identity between the elderly and the young

Lam Kinh Festival with the procession of King Le's spirit tablet, Ba Trieu Temple Festival associated with the national heroine, Mai An Tiem Festival, a symbol of the vitality of Thanh people... have all been staged, connected with tours and traditional experience programs.

Tens of thousands of tourists flock here every year, not only to “watch” the ceremony, but also to “live” in the culture, wrapping banh chung, pounding green rice, setting up poles, wearing traditional costumes, and playing traditional games.

Thanh Hoa province has cleverly integrated festivals into socio-economic development: associated with new rural construction, community tourism development, and handicraft preservation. Many localities such as Quan Son (old), Quan Hoa (old), Ngoc Lac (old), Thuong Xuan (old) … have turned village festivals into opportunities to promote OCOP products, green tourism, and indigenous culture.

Since 2017, more than 100 traditional festivals have been held annually, with a series of parallel activities such as folk art competitions, culinary exhibitions, reenactments of folk games, and discussions on ethnic cultures. Provincial television has launched a program called “Thanh Destination” and produced documentaries about village festivals. The press, social networks, and short video platforms have also joined in, turning traditional festivals into digital cultural trends.

Not only tourists but also local people have changed. They have proactively contributed land and labor to repair the communal house, the festival yard, re-erect the pole, and find the prayer. Some localities such as Cam Thuy district (old), Lang Chanh district (old), and Muong Lat district (old) have established a Traditional Festival Preservation Club, with members being teachers, village elders, and youths, sharing the responsibility of preserving the memories of their homeland.

Thanh Hoa also pays special attention to training cultural human resources: organizing dozens of training courses for folk artists, festival guides, and communal cultural officers. Hundreds of excellent artists have been awarded titles and supported in teaching. Policies for treating and honoring those who keep the soul of heritage are also specifically applied because they are the "soul" of the festival.

Village festivals are not just for “watching”, for living together, breathing together, loving together and being proud together. When a village has a festival, it is when the community has the opportunity to sit together, remember their roots, share joys and sorrows and build their identity. Village festivals not only revive memories, but are also a form of “community education” that is profound, natural and most effective.

Perhaps the most touching thing is not the brilliant performances on stage, but the image of a village elder quietly beside an old drum; a child with trembling hands touching an ancestral costume; a Muong woman smiling when seeing her daughter dancing an old dance in the middle of a village festival...

There, heritage is not in books, but present in every step, every drum beat, every radiant look of the people of our homeland.

The return of the village festival is not just the revival of a custom. It is the revival of the national soul.

(To be continued)

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/bai-2-hoi-sinh-le-hoi-giu-lua-hon-lang-158894.html