When festivals become living heritage

In the eighth lunar month, the city on the west coast enters the festival season. The sea breeze blows through the streets, carrying the scent of incense smoke from the temple and the Nguyen Trung Truc monument park. On Nguyen Cong Tru Street, people wrap banh it, cook sweet soup, and set up tents. Elderly people in ao dai prepare for the ritual. Children watch the procession of the gods pass by with wide eyes. Without anyone telling them to, everyone is busy, everyone is happy. The entire city of Rach Gia seems to be breathing together.

The Nguyen Trung Truc Festival originated from the people's hearts, from the gratitude to the hero who sacrificed himself to protect the Southern land. After more than a century, the people's hearts have not faded. Every festival season, people offer incense, gifts, and tell old stories. From being a religious ritual, the festival has developed into a National Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2023. And that heritage has returned to support the festival, so that the festival can live longer, more beautifully, and richer in everyone's mind.

Festivals are the form, heritage is the soul. If a festival only has the sound of drums and gongs but lacks cultural depth, it will quickly fade away. If heritage only exists in books and records, it will become quiet and lose its vitality. The beauty of Rach Gia is that it knows how to blend the two. Festivals are elevated by heritage, and heritage is nurtured by festivals.

The people of Rach Gia understand this in a very simple way. Every year, when the festival comes, people not only offer incense but also join the government in setting up a stage for traditional music, opening booths to introduce handicraft products, and organizing fairs to display agricultural products. Traditional music, folk songs, folk songs, the sound of instruments, sticky rice cakes, dried shrimp, pineapples... are all part of the soul of Southern culture. Thanks to the festival, those values are awakened, preserved, and spread. And thanks to heritage, the festival has depth, meaning, and longevity.

Over the years, Rach Gia has constantly innovated its organization. The festival space has been expanded to parks, squares, and beaches. Art programs have been invested in elaborately, both solemn and intimate. People and tourists can participate and experience. The festival is not closed in the communal house, but opens up to the streets. It is this expansion that has helped heritage enter life, helping folk beliefs become a connecting thread for the community.

Preserving and promoting heritage is not the job of one person, it is the common task of the whole society. When students learn about the filial example of Nguyen Trung Truc through local history lessons, when young people know how to tell stories through images, when businesses contribute to creating cultural tourism products, that is when heritage steps out of the pages. The festival then will not only be a 3-day festival in August but will be a story all year round, in every family, every street, every neighborhood.

Preserving the spirit of the festival is preserving the spirit of the community. Each incense stick lit in a temple or park is not only to commemorate a hero but also to remind of loyalty and kindness. Each song, each beat of the festival drum is a reminder of solidarity and belief in goodness. Heritage is only meaningful when it illuminates today's life. And the festival is where that light is lit, radiated, and spread.

In the light of the lanterns on the Kien River, we see radiant faces. There are cultural officers, members of the relic management board, people going to the festival, tourists from far away, and children hearing the story of Mr. Nguyen Trung Truc for the first time. Each person brings back an emotion, an awareness, a belief. That is the most precious thing that the festival brings. Because when the festival makes people live more beautifully, love more, and be more proud, the heritage has fulfilled its mission.

From festival to heritage, from heritage to serve festival is the cycle of culture. That vitality originates from the community, is nurtured by people, is preserved by faith. And as long as people still believe, still look towards, Nguyen Trung Truc festival will continue to shine like a lamp of righteousness that does not go out through many stormy seasons.

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/khi-le-hoi-hoa-than-thanh-di-san-song-a464218.html