The vibrant colors of spring fill Dong Mo.

As the sounds of spring fill the air, the annual festival drums of representatives from 28 ethnic communities in Dong Mo also resound with excitement.

As usual, the Lunar New Year celebration at the Vietnam Ethnic Culture and Tourism Village (Dong Mo Cultural Village, Son Tay, Hanoi) is always grand and captivating. For the past fourteen years, since the Cultural Village opened to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long, Hanoi, it has become a special cultural hub for people in Northern Vietnam, not only during the Tet holiday and the arrival of spring.

The Spring Festival, held annually across the country, takes place here, featuring many unique and diverse activities. I am proud to be one of the citizens of Hanoi who regularly attends this event, enjoying a range of emotions as I celebrate the Spring Festival with representatives of various ethnic communities and immerse myself in the vibrant and joyful folk songs and dances.

President Vo Van Thuong joins the local people in performing the Xoe dance. (Photo: Thanh Ha)

Formal and warm

Speaking of this important festival, it's impossible not to mention the regular participation of State leaders and ministries... This year, President Vo Van Thuong came to extend New Year greetings and join in the festivities. Also attending the event were Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha; Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung; Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education Nguyen Dac Vinh; Head of the President's Office Le Khanh Hai… The festival was also attended by representatives from central ministries and agencies, Hanoi city, several localities, and a large number of people from 28 ethnic communities in 16 provinces representing ethnic groups and regions across the country.

As soon as I reached the entrance to the Cultural Village, I heard the majestic sound of gongs and drums from the Central Highlands people. The atmosphere was filled with the vibrancy, spirit, and joy of the people welcoming the new year. As President Vo Van Thuong shared, it is "a vibrant and colorful cultural space of the brotherly ethnic groups in the great family of Vietnamese ethnic groups."

After enjoying the musical program of ethnic minorities celebrating the Party, the Spring Festival, and the country's renewal, everyone listened to the President's remarks at the event: "Our country, Vietnam, is a beautiful nation with a long-standing civilization, a glorious history, and a rich culture, unified in diversity."

Throughout thousands of years of history in nation-building and national defense, the 54 ethnic groups have created a unique and rich cultural treasure trove with beautiful values ​​that vividly reflect the process of living, working, building, and protecting the country, portraying the character and beauty of the Vietnamese people. This is truly a source of national pride and a precious asset, the origin of internal strength, fostering national unity, and attracting friends from the world; it is a soft power that contributes to raising the country's position and prestige on the international stage.

The President expressed his delight to learn that, over the years, the Vietnam Ethnic Culture and Tourism Village has hosted many effective and unique activities, with hundreds of festivals and events organized, highlighting the beauty of Vietnamese culture and attracting domestic and international tourists to visit and experience cultural and community tourism. This affirms the enduring vitality of the nation's traditional cultural values ​​in development, exchange, integration, and international cooperation.

Emphasizing that, for culture to truly be an endogenous resource and a powerful driving force for the country's sustainable development, prosperity, and happiness, the President reminded everyone to continue preserving and nurturing good cultural values, integrating culture deeply into social life, consolidating and building a healthy and progressive spiritual foundation, and contributing to building a modern Vietnamese people rich in identity.

“Cultural diversity is the source of exchange, innovation, and creativity. I hope that in the future, we will continue to have many initiatives and creative approaches to jointly build a space for cultural exchange among the Vietnamese people, respecting and protecting the diverse expressions of culture, people, ethnic groups, and regions. I believe that a joyful, harmonious, and cohesive space created by diverse cultural communities is a solid foundation to promote exchange and understanding, harmony and mutual respect among brotherly ethnic groups, creating cohesion, fostering national unity, and contributing to the development of Vietnamese culture, Vietnamese strength, and Vietnamese values ​​– a powerful endogenous resource for national development,” the President affirmed.

Mr. Pham Van Quyen, Deputy Head of the Management Board of the Vietnam Ethnic Culture Village (fourth from the right), celebrates with ethnic people and overseas Vietnamese at the Muong ethnic cultural space during the festival. (Photo: Thanh Ha)

"Seeing the Xoe dance means seeing Spring."

Immediately after the main ceremony, I joined the enthusiastic crowd, deeply impressed by the idea of ​​building the Cultural Village decades ago. It's difficult to find anywhere else in the world that offers a space for representatives of ethnic groups from across the country to live and maintain their village culture like the Cultural Village. Not only during the spring season, but throughout the year, visitors can instantly experience diverse cultures in one location just outside Hanoi.

In the Bru-Van Kieu ethnic minority community, I was deeply moved to witness the President of Vietnam performing the ritual of planting rice seeds in the ground with the village elders during the Rice Planting Festival. This is considered the most important cultural activity in the religious life and community life of the Bru-Van Kieu people, praying to the gods to protect and ensure the flourishing of the seeds for a bountiful harvest. Since 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued a Decision recognizing the Rice Planting Festival of the Bru-Van Kieu people as a national intangible cultural heritage.

Mr. Pham Van Quyen, Deputy Head of the Cultural Village Management Board, said: "With the goal of serving tourists, families representing ethnic minorities have been recreating and preserving the traditional customs of their people, specifically music, costumes, cuisine, daily life... as well as other products such as herbal medicine, rice wine..."

By chance, in Thai village, I met Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, a Vietnamese expatriate from Italy who was visiting her homeland and the tourist village. She happily shared: “I am very happy to be here. Attending the festival, seeing the President wishing the people a Happy New Year, felt so close. Especially, I enjoyed dancing the Xoe dance with the people of various ethnic groups. I often tell Italians about the beautiful festivals of Vietnam.”

Ms. Lo Thi Tom (of the Thai ethnic group) smiled and said, “When Tet (Lunar New Year) comes, we all work together to tend to each flower bed and fence to make our houses more beautiful to welcome visitors. This year, the Thai village area has added a row of Northwest bauhinia flowers and a peach blossom garden. Each year brings something new and wonderful. This year, the village management board has added a water wheel and a bridge connecting the Thai village's orchards to the buckwheat fields. We are very happy. This is truly the familiar space where we were born, grew up, and lived in the village.”

I was fortunate to meet the distinguished artisan Bui Thanh Binh, Director of the Muong Cultural Heritage Museum in Hoa Binh province and head of the Muong ethnic village group, who was introducing the Muong gongs. The artisan shared: “The Muong gong set consists of 12 gongs, representing the 12 months of the year, with 4 sets of sounds representing the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. To truly understand the Muong gongs, only those who own them have the opportunity to deeply understand them.”

The stories of Meritorious Artisan Bui Thanh Binh are like the gongs of the Muong people—fascinating and endless, their echoes resonating forever. I am happy to see that preserving culture is not only a policy and direction of the Party and State leaders, but for those living far from their homeland like Ms. Thanh, and ethnic minorities like Ms. Tom and Mr. Binh, preserving culture is a responsibility and a passion.

That's all it takes; the spirit of spring, not only in the Cultural Village but throughout the country, will endure, beautiful and lasting, from generation to generation.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ron-rang-sac-xuan-dong-mo-262512.html