Hoa Binh, a gateway to the Northwestern region, is home to six main ethnic groups, namely Muong, Kinh, Tay, Thai, Dao and Mong, of whom the Muong people account for about 64%. In recent years, with the efforts of Party committees and administrations at all levels and ethnic minorities, the province has achieved encouraging results in preserving and promoting traditional cultural values.


Traditional festivals in the province are organised to contribute to preserving and promoting the cultural identity of ethnic groups. Photo taken at Ke Pagoda Festival in Phu Vinh commune (Tan Lac district). 

The preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage values of the ethnic groups has been given special attention by Party committees and administrations at all levels. The province has issued a lot of directive documents, including Resolution No. 04-NQ/TU, dated October 11, 2021 of the provincial Party Committee’s Standing Board on preserving and promoting the cultural heritage values of ethnic groups in Hoa Binh province for the 2021 – 2025 period, with a vision to 2030. 

Quach Thi Kieu, Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that the highlight of the work is that the province has carried out a programme to conduct a general inventory of all intangible cultural heritage of local ethnic groups. Up to now, the whole province has 786 intangible cultural heritage pieces, including: language, writing, folk literature, folk performing arts, traditional crafts, social customs and belief. It owns five national intangible cultural heritages: Mo Muong, Muong Gong Art, Muong bamboo calendar folk knowledge, Khai Ha traditional festival of Muong people, and Keng Loong social customs and the belief of Thai people in Mai Chau district. 

On September 8, 2016, the provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 2295/QD-UBND on approving the Muong handwritings of Hoa Binh province. The provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 1349/QD-UBND, dated June 8, 2019 approving a project on teaching and learning the Muong ethnic language in the province for the 2018 – 2025 period, with a vision to 2035. The Department of Education and Training has organised training courses to build a contingent of experts to teach the Muong language. 

In addition, implementing a project to preserve traditional costumes of the ethnic groups, localities, agencies and units have had many solutions to encourage officials, members and people to wear traditional costumes on holidays and anniversaries, and encourage students to wear traditional costumes in flag-raising ceremonies, and cultural and artistic activities.


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