IAGRAI Gong Culture Festival

The Gong Culture Festival, an event honoring unique cultural values ​​and connecting communities to promote the identity of ethnic groups, creates a vibrant and enduring spirit in the mountainous region. Taking place from November 11th to 19th in Pleiku City and the districts of Ia Grai and Chư Păh, the Gia Lai Culture-Tourism Week 2023 includes many unique and attractive cultural, sports , and tourism events and activities such as: the announcement and acceptance ceremony of the National Special Monument ranking for Rộc Tưng – Gò Đá and the announcement of the An Khê collection of early Paleolithic tools as a National Treasure; the Gia Lai Gong Culture Festival; the “Gia Lai City Trail 2023 – Dream of the Mountains” race; the Wild Sunflower Festival – Chư Đang Ya Volcano; the A Sanh Cup dugout canoe race on the Pô Kô River; and the Ia Grai District Gong Culture Festival.

The festival spreads the cultural values ​​of the ethnic groups of the Central Highlands. Vietnam.vn invites you to participate in the festival through the photo series "IAGRAI Gong Culture Festival" by author Pham Dang Khiem. The Gong Culture Festival is held annually by the border district of Ia Grai to preserve and promote the unique cultural traditions and beauty of the people associated with the Po Co River. The author submitted this photo series to the "Happy Vietnam" Photo and Video Contest, organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications .

Over 1,000 artisans from 22 groups representing five Central Highlands provinces – Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, and Lam Dong – gathered at the Gia Lai Provincial Museum to recreate the atmosphere of a village during a festival, including the reconstruction of traditional rituals and festivals, folk art performances, cuisine, weaving, and sculpture.

The highlight of the Gia Lai Culture and Tourism Week 2023 was the Gong Culture Festival. The street festival program attracted particular attention from the people of the province as well as tourists from all over the country. This was a meeting point and a place of artistic expression for both artisans and visitors. Throughout the streets of Pleiku, the vibrant sounds of gongs and the graceful Xoang dance filled the air, offering locals and tourists a unique and captivating experience.

One of the precious legacies that the people of the Central Highlands in general, and Gia Lai province in particular, have especially preserved for generations, is the gong. Gongs are inextricably linked to the Central Highlands, an indispensable part of everyone's life from birth to death, and are also present in important village festivals. Gongs have become a distinctive, valuable, and captivating cultural feature of this red soil plateau. The Ba Na, Gia Rai, and other ethnic groups consider gongs as an integral part of themselves, the soul of their villages.

In 2024, the "Happy Vietnam" photo and video contest continued to be organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications in collaboration with the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists on the website.   https://happy.vietnam.vn is open to all Vietnamese citizens and foreigners aged 15 and above. The competition aims to honor individuals and groups with positive informational products that make practical contributions to promoting a beautiful image of Vietnam to the world. Through this, it helps people at home, overseas Vietnamese, and international friends access authentic images of Vietnam, its people, its achievements in ensuring human rights, and working towards a happy Vietnam.

Each competition category (photos and videos) has the following prizes and prize values:
– 1 Gold Medal: 70,000,000 VND
– 2 Silver Medals: 20,000,000 VND
– 3 Bronze Medals: 10,000,000 VND
– 10 Consolation Prizes: 5,000,000 VND
– The most voted-for entry: 5,000,000 VND
The winning authors will be invited by the Organizing Committee to attend the Award Ceremony and Certificate Presentation, which will be broadcast live on Vietnam Television.

Vietnam.vn