In local preparations, the image of traditional festivals of ethnic minorities is most clearly evoked and the sound of gongs will be bustling, the heartbeat of cultural roots that sustainably connect the community between the past, present and future.
When the last drops of rain fall, the Central Highlands cultural tourism evokes information about the new tourist season, dry season tourism. Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province Tran Hong Tien shared: In the preparations of the locality, the image of traditional festivals of ethnic minorities is most clearly evoked and the sound of gongs will be bustling, the heartbeat of the cultural roots that sustainably connect the community between the past, present and future.
In particular, the Dak Lak Ethnic Cultural Heritage Week 2025 will take place from November 18 to 23, with the highlight being the Gong and Traditional Musical Instrument Festival. This is also an activity to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Central Highlands Gong Cultural Space being recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Tell the complete gong story
Mr. Nguyen Huu Hung, an expert from the Department of Culture and Family Management, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province, said that the local cultural sector has just summarized 5 years of implementing Resolution No. 10/2021/NQ-HDND dated December 17, 2021 of the Provincial People's Council on preserving and promoting gong culture of Dak Lak province, period 2022-2025; preparing for the next 5-year plan, with a more expanded cultural appearance after merging administrative boundaries. Accordingly, the viewpoint on the cultural field needs to expand new development aspects, suitable for the new, larger context and space.
Specifically, over the past 5 years (2020-2025) of implementing the conservation and promotion of gong culture, Dak Lak has collected and identified cultural values that need to be preserved; partly re-enacted and restored works, events, and rituals that have faded; partly strengthened and supported the community to preserve, re-evaluate, and have plans to preserve and honor existing gong activities.
Through the inventory of intangible cultural heritages of the Ede, M'nong, and Gia Rai ethnic groups in the area, it is shown that by 2024, the whole province still has 1,603 sets of gongs, including 1,178 sets of Ede gongs, 219 sets of M'nong gongs, 118 sets of Jrai gongs and 88 other sets of gongs. At the same time, in the villages in the province, there are 3,749 artisans holding and 1,015 young artisans participating in various types of cultural heritage.
“Through that inventory, we found that the cultural heritage of gongs in the community is still active, especially in ethnic minority villages and hamlets, but the proportion of products through thematic groups is no longer high. The artisans who are proficient in the types of performances are all old. Therefore, controlling and protecting cultural heritage is a huge challenge,” said Tran Hong Tien, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province.
According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province, to promote the remaining cultural heritage values, the locality needs to focus on three implementation steps.
Firstly, the Department of Culture organizes more spaces for gong practice, associated with rituals, festivals, and community activities, inviting artisans and the community to directly participate, perform, and exchange.
Second, bring gongs into life, strongly connect with tourism, especially community tourism to increase opportunities for experiential education and artistic creation that blends tradition and modernity, to help generations, especially the young generation, understand, love and be proud of heritage.
Third, deploy effective communication work, aiming at the criteria of telling gong stories in a new way, through digital platforms, documentaries, social networks, etc., to spread the gong culture of the Central Highlands for tourists and the community to enjoy.
According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Hung, with such implementation steps, cultural heritage will be told in the most complete way.
Bustling new steps
According to Mr. Tran Hong Tien, these first days of the 2025 dry season are the time for the Dak Lak Provincial Department of Culture to evoke and connect with tourism and production activities at the grassroots level to remind the story of cultural heritage.
The Department has planned to mobilize and organize grassroots gong groups and clubs to participate in community activities and folk customs and rituals, and deploy them into events and programs serving social activities.
Young artisans in the areas are actively encouraged to participate in community tourism programs, learn and create new works and performance styles.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Hung explained that the cultural sector aims to promote the cultural value of gongs not only within existing achievements, but also needs to integrate and create more conditions and opportunities to integrate heritage culture into daily life. This is not simple, but the goals and solutions are very clear.
That is the movement to bring gong activities closer to nature, penetrate the community with its inherent value, and accompany cultural and tourism activities taking place in the grassroots areas. The gong performances must be reproduced authentically and vividly... with many rich, diverse and unique repertoires, ensuring inheritance with young artisans given priority to participate.
In addition, the industry needs to invest more in research and study of traditional culture, organize artisans to restore lost traditional gongs and musical instruments, revive the spiritual life of the community, through the rituals and customs of each ethnic group. The initiative to bring gongs into modern singing and dancing activities, interacting with international tourists of the Provincial Culture and Tourism Center is a positive solution that needs to be promoted, both creating new and unique values of enjoyment for the public and bringing economic efficiency to the cultural industry.
In particular, the Cultural Heritage Week takes place from November 18 to 23 this year with a series of meaningful activities, aiming to honor the unique values of cultural heritages in Dak Lak province in general and the Gong Cultural Space heritage in particular; arouse the pride and sense of responsibility of the community in preserving and promoting traditional cultural identity; at the same time, promote the image of Dak Lak - the land of the echoes of the great forest, where identity and aspirations converge to contribute to promoting sustainable cultural tourism development, expanding opportunities for exchange, cooperation and creating livelihoods for local communities through unique cultural-artistic-tourism activities. This is also the occasion to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Central Highlands Gong Cultural Space being recognized by UNESCO as an oral masterpiece and representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Mr. Tran Hong Tien acknowledged that gongs are not only a call to the past, but also the "soul" of the Central Highlands culture, which needs to be more strongly aroused in the approaching year-end festival atmosphere. The Dak Lak Culture Department is making efforts to promote each gong sound as a beat of cultural roots, becoming a source of pride and excitement for present life, and a sustainable community connection in the future.
Source: https://baolamdong.vn/ron-rang-am-huong-cong-chieng-trong-tuan-di-san-van-hoa-cac-dan-toc-tinh-dak-lak-2025-402297.html
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