Being proud of Khai Ha festival of the Muong ethnic group in Hoa Binh province

6/25/2023 - 5:38:11 PM

(HBO) - In 2022, together with the folk knowledge of Bamboo Calendar, Khai Ha fesstival of Muong ethnic minority in Hoa Binh province have received a certificate of recognition of the national intangible cultural heritage, creating a milestone of the provicial special cultural events. On the occasion of the Lunar New Year of Cat in 2023, the provincial Khai Ha Festival was first held with the convergence of 4 Muong (Bi, Vang, Thang, Dong), having the largest scale ever, thereby it helps fostering the pride of the community of Muong ethnic group in Hoa Binh, attracting the participation of the people and thousands of tourists from all over the country.

The rituals and unique folklore are recreated at Khai Ha festival of Muong ethnic peopel at the provincial level.

Mrs. Bui Thi Dinh from Muong Lam hamlet, Phong Phu commune could not hide her joy when the biggest traditional folk festival of Muong ethnic people in Hoa Binh was honored. She says: In the life of Muong people in Hoa Binh in general, and Muong Bi people in particular, Khai Ha festival is an indispensable cultural and religious activity that takes place every Tet and spring. Through each time of Khai Ha festival, we understand more about the invaluable value of heritage, know how to cherish, conserve, preserve and promote the national cultural identity.

Talking about the special features of this festival, Mr. Luu Huy Linh, the Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism emphasizes: Khai Ha festival of Muong ethnic minority in Hoa Binh province has a long history, associating with the rice agriculture with many imprints of the ancient Vietnamese civilization, meaning the reverence for gods, remembering those who have made public contributions to the land, establishing Muong, praying for all things to develop smoothly, for good crops and for a happy life. Besides the indispensable spiritual rituals and rituals, the festival creates a lot of attraction from the festival part with the cultural activities, arts and folk games with rich and diverse content.

Notably, at Khai Ha festival of Muong Ethnic in 2023 with the provincial scale, the rituals were reproduced clearly and fully, many unique and typical folklore features were displayed: the performance of Muong gongs (performing to call the soul of gongs) of the artisans; the ritual of plowing and transplanting in the early spring…performance of Muong gongs by more than 500 actors and artists; ceremonial downing to the fields to plow, to plant in early spring... Within the framework of Khai Ha festival, there was a contest of the national sports and folk games imbued with the cultural identity, including crossbow shooting, stick pushing, tug of war, cotton ball throwing, tickle, hit the array… and Sec Bua and Doi singing. The sports and cultural activities took place excitingly, reviving the old folklore, attracting tourists to the big festival. Visitors can also witness the traditional costume performance contest; knitting contest, brocade weaving, handicraft demonstration, making traditional household items of Muong ethnic group; joining the busy flow of people to the atmosphere of Muong Bi night market displaying the typical agricultural products of the province.

Mr. Dinh Anh Tuan, the Secretary of Tan Lac District’s Party Committee says: The Party Committee, the administration and the people of the district are proud to be one of the localities that own the heritage. The district continues paying attention to promoting and encouraging the people's sense of conservation and responsibility in spreading and practicing activities in the community. Along with that, it is neccesary to work together with the appropriate departments, branches and localities to coordinate, research and promote Khai Ha festival of Muong ethnic people in Hoa Binh province so that it is increasingly unique and has a worthy position in the cultural and spiritual life of the ethnic minorities of Muong in particular, and the people of ethnic groups in the province in general, contributing to increasing the attraction for tourists, preserving the richness and diversity of the province's treasures of intangible cultural heritage.

3.6 Billion VND Allocated to Preserve Traditional Cultural Values of Ethnic Minorities in Lạc Sơn District

As part of Project 6 under the national target program for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in 2024, Lạc Sơn District, Hoa Binh province focuses on diverse and practical activities to promote the project's goal: "Preserving and promoting the beautiful traditional cultural values of ethnic groups in conjunction with tourism development."

Mobilizing the power to preserve and promote the cultural heritage values

After 3 years of implementing Resolution No. 04-NQ/TU, dated October 11, 2021 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on preserving and promoting the cultural heritage values of Hoa Binh province's ethnic groups in the period of 2021 – 2025 with the orientation to 2030 (NQ04), it has mobilized the participation of the entire political system, the people from all walks of life and there have been positive changes. So far, out of the 10 targets of NQ04, 3 targets have been met and exceeded the plan set for 2025. Typically, 70% of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of ethnic groups in the province is on the list of the national ICH items and they have been protected and restored, exceeding 20% of the proposed Resolution.