Dong Nai: Preserving and promoting the value of traditional festivals of ethnic minority communities associated with tourism development

Dong Nai province, after merging with Binh Phuoc province, is the common home of the Vietnamese ethnic community, including many ethnic minorities such as Choro, M'nong, Stieng, Hoa, Ma, Cham, Khmer... To preserve the rich and valuable cultural heritage of ethnic minority communities, the province has been making efforts to implement many solutions to promote the cultural heritage values ​​of ethnic minorities associated with local tourism development.

In Dong Nai province, in the cultural life of ethnic people in areas such as Bien Hoa, Bu Gia Map, Tan Phu, Phuoc Long, Long Khanh, Long Thanh..., there are indispensable festivals typical of ethnic groups. Notable ones are: SaYangva Festival, Sayangbri Festival, Ta Tai Phan Festival, Ong Pagoda Festival, Chol Chnam Thmay Festival, Sen Dolta Festival, Ooc Om Bok... Statistics for the period 2021-2025 show that in Dong Nai province (old), there are about 260 traditional festivals of ethnic groups.

In recent years, the province has invested in building and putting into use many ethnic cultural houses, serving the cultural needs of ethnic minority communities in the area such as: Ethnic cultural houses of the S'tieng, Choro, Ma, Cham, Muong... and equipped dozens of sets of gongs, drums, pentatonic sets... for ethnic cultural houses and places where ethnic minorities live.

To preserve and promote the cultural values ​​of traditional festivals, the province has built community tourism models associated with heritage such as: Muong ethnic cultural village, Ta Lai Eco Lodge... These models not only improve people's livelihoods but also contribute to preserving local cultural values ​​such as traditional occupations: brocade weaving of the Ma and Stieng people, weaving... thereby contributing to the process of preserving and promoting the value of ethnic cultural heritage in the process of developing local tourism.

Locals and tourists join the Ong Pagoda Festival

To develop tourism associated with preserving and promoting the unique cultural heritage values ​​of ethnic minorities, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dong Nai province has implemented many solutions based on the basic principle of respecting and promoting local cultural identity, associated with sustainable livelihoods. In the process of tourism development, the province determined that culture must be considered as the foundation and also the goal of tourism development, the community is the subject in all tourism activities and absolutely prohibits all acts of commercialization, distortion or exploitation of ethnic culture for business purposes only, fading traditional cultural identity.

Along with that, to promote cultural potential into economic benefits for the community, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has identified the key orientation as developing sustainable tourism models, focusing on developing community tourism associated with improving people's capacity through organizing training on tourism knowledge and skills for youth and ethnic minorities, while supporting the restoration and promotion of traditional craft villages, preserving folk performing arts and developing unique local cuisine.

Another solution that the province is interested in implementing is to establish cooperative groups and community tourism models with transparent operating mechanisms to ensure fair rights among participants, and to build programs connecting ethnic minority communities with inter-regional tourism product chains to create unique tours imbued with national cultural identity.

In which, ethnic minorities play a central role in the cultural tourism model, they are the central and decisive factor for the success and sustainability of the community tourism model. In tourism models, ethnic minorities are the ones who preserve traditional cultural treasures and are the ones who directly tell the story of their ethnic cultural identity to tourists - they create real vitality for cultural tourism products.

Sayangva Festival of the Choro ethnic group (photo: Thanh Hieu)

The local government has organized training courses to impart the nation's unique cultural values ​​from the older, experienced generation to the younger generation; implemented support policies for the next generation of artisans - young people who are learning and inheriting the heritage from the elderly artisans - ensuring that they can make a living from their profession, thereby motivating the younger generation to continue the path of preserving national culture.

With unified direction and implementation guidance from the government to the people, the unique cultural values ​​of ethnic minorities here become resources and resources for tourism development. The province promotes training support programs, connecting businesses - communities - governments, and people truly become the subjects and legitimate beneficiaries of local tourism activities. People are empowered, instructed in tourism skills and fully participate in the process of building - operating - benefiting from cultural tourism. Visitors to festivals and participating in local cultural tourism activities will learn, explore and experience cultural activities, contributing to the process of preserving and promoting indigenous culture through the use of community tourism products. This connection helps the local tourism industry develop sustainably.

Among the traditional festivals of ethnic minorities currently living in Dong Nai, the most prominent are the SaYangva Festival, Ong Pagoda Festival, Ta Tai Phan Festival...

On June 3, 2025, the SaYangva Festival (New Rice Celebration) of the Choro people in Long Khanh, Xuan Loc, Thong Nhat, Dinh Quan, Cam My, Vinh Cuu was listed in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage according to the Decision of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The Sayangva Festival is the largest festival, expressing gratitude to the gods for a bountiful harvest and praying for favorable weather for the next season. The listing of the Sayangva Festival of the Choro people in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage affirms the historical, cultural and scientific value of the festival, while making an important contribution to the work of preserving and promoting the unique cultural identity of the Choro ethnic group in Dong Nai province.

The Ong Pagoda Festival (That Phu Co Mieu) in Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province (old), has been officially listed in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism under Decision No. 3440/QD-BVHTTDL dated November 10, 2023. This listing is not only the joy of the Chinese community but also the common pride of the people of Dong Nai, affirming the historical and cultural values ​​and the unique Vietnamese-Chinese cultural exchange of this festival. The Ong Pagoda Festival takes place from the 10th to the 13th of the first lunar month every year with many unique cultural activities such as the ceremony to welcome the gods; opening ceremony, opening the festival; worshiping the sky and releasing lucky balloons; The ceremony of praying for peace and releasing flower lanterns on the Dong Nai River... In which, the procession of the gods has many activities such as variety shows, giving lucky money to people, performing traditional music on the streets... bringing a bustling and exciting atmosphere to the Festival. The festival part attracts tourists with impressive programs such as: performing Southern amateur music, performing ancient lion-lion-dragon plays, folk games, calligraphy exchange...

The Ta Tai Phan Festival (Van Nhan Duyen) is a festival with the meaning of praying for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather, dispelling all worries and sadness and bringing good things to the entire Chinese community in Dong Nai. The Ta Tai Phan Festival of the Chinese is held every 3 years in December and lasts from 3-4 days. The first day is to worship the location and place the Buddha altar, and to bring the family altars; the second day is to open the sutras and pray for peace for everyone; the third day is to set up the pole, form a pilgrimage group to visit local pagodas, communal houses, shrines and temples, and the fourth day is when the festival officially takes place. On each occasion of the festival, a large number of Chinese people from other provinces and tourists attend, both to watch the festival and to make merit and do good deeds. The Ta Tai Phan Festival is a unique cultural beauty, contributing to enriching the spiritual life and multi-ethnic culture of Vietnam.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/dong-nai-bao-ton-va-phat-huy-gia-tri-le-hoi-truyen-thong-cua-cong-dong-dan-toc-thieu-so-gan-voi-phat-trien-du-lich-20251119183525242.htm