The festivals of ethnic minorities in Quang Ninh province possess unique and valuable characteristics, many of which have become national intangible cultural heritage. Therefore, the preservation and promotion of these cultural values and their development into distinctive tourism products need continued attention and adequate investment from all levels, sectors, and localities.
Each ethnic minority group has its own traditional festivals associated with customs, practices, beliefs, and production activities. For festivals in general, and spring festivals in particular, the main meaning remains the prayer for blessings, a bountiful harvest, and a peaceful and prosperous life. The offerings presented during the festivals are not elaborate but usually consist of products produced by the people themselves, such as chicken, pork, duck, fish, rice, corn, bamboo shoots, and traditional cakes. During the festival days, people often choose their most beautiful ethnic costumes and participate in cultural exchange activities and folk games. Each festival brings a lively and joyful atmosphere to the villages, strengthening community bonds and continuously inspiring each person to preserve, protect, and pass on precious cultural values.
Tien Yen is a land with a long and rich cultural heritage, home to 13 ethnic groups such as the Kinh, Dao, Tay, San Diu, San Chi, Hoa, Thai, and Cao Lan. Over the years, Tien Yen district has dedicated significant resources to continuously promoting cultural values in general and the traditional festivals of ethnic minorities in particular. The district recognizes this as an intrinsic resource contributing to the development of the locality into a cultural center for ethnic groups in the Northeast region, and also as a driving force for the sustainable development of community tourism.
Comrade Nguyen Chi Thanh, Secretary of the Tien Yen District Party Committee, said: Along with conservation work in general, through traditional festivals and cultural events, Tien Yen district is strongly and effectively promoting the unique cultural values of the local ethnic minorities, such as music, costumes, culinary arts, folk games, and ethnic sports... In the coming time, Tien Yen will continue to invest in upgrading the scale and quality of the Dao, Tay, San Chi, and San Diu ethnic festivals, restoring and preserving characteristic rituals such as Lau Then, harvest prayers, coming-of-age ceremonies, and Dai Phan... From there, develop unique and distinctive cultural tourism products, contributing to better cultural conservation while continuously improving the lives of the people.
Not only in Tien Yen, but in recent years, localities with large ethnic minority populations have also focused on organizing and developing new festivals and events based on the farming and agricultural production practices of the people. This not only meets the needs for cultural exchange, arts, and sports activities of ethnic minorities but also exploits their unique cultural characteristics to create unique and attractive tourism products. Notable examples include: the Golden Harvest Festival, the So Flower Festival (Binh Lieu); the Golden Harvest Festival in Soong Co; the San Diu Ethnic Culture and Sports Festival (Tien Yen); the Tay Ethnic Culture Festival (Ba Che); the Border Sim Flower Festival (Mong Cai)...
Thanks to efforts in preserving and promoting the cultural values of ethnic minority festivals, in 2024, Quang Ninh province had three more national intangible cultural heritage sites recognized: the Wind-Avoiding Custom of the Dao people in Dong Van commune, Binh Lieu district; the Coming-of-Age Ceremony of the Thanh Y Dao people in Ha Long City, Uong Bi City, Cam Pha City, Mong Cai City, Van Don district, Ba Che district, Binh Lieu district, Tien Yen district, Dam Ha district, and Hai Ha district; and the New Rice Celebration Ceremony of the Tay people in Ha Long City, Cam Pha City, Dong Trieu City, Binh Lieu district, Tien Yen district, Ba Che district, Hai Ha district, and Dam Ha district.
In order to continue restoring, preserving, and promoting the cultural values of traditional festivals, and to enhance the cultural enjoyment of ethnic minority communities in conjunction with community tourism development, the Provincial People's Committee has issued Plan No. 125/KH-UBND on the implementation of Project 6 "Preserving and promoting the fine traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities in conjunction with tourism development" under the National Target Program for socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the period 2021-2030. This plan identifies the surveying, inventorying, collecting, and documenting of traditional cultural heritage of ethnic minorities; organizing the preservation and promotion of typical traditional festivals of ethnic minorities; and exploiting and developing products to serve tourism development as key tasks to be implemented immediately in 2025.
Traditional festivals have been and continue to enrich the diverse cultural landscape of the ethnic minority communities in Quang Ninh province within the flow of modern culture. Through these festivals, they not only contribute to the enrichment of the identity and culture of the people of Quang Ninh but also serve as a valuable resource for tourism development and promote the development of the province's cultural industry.
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