(HBO) – Bui Van Bui, a 84-year-old resident in Ru 5 hamlet of Xuan Phong commune (Cao Phong district), has a deep understanding about the tradition of the Independence Festival celebrations in Muong Thang area. The old man said he has been here for more than half of his life. Muong Thang is changing day by day with hills of orange-laden trees and endless green sugarcane gardens.



In the IndependenceFestival, people in Muong Thang (Cao Phong district) traditionally play gongs to show their happiness. Photo: A gong performance by members of the Tan Phong commune women’s union.

It is a tradition that Muong Thang residents hold celebrations of the National Day (September 2), also called the Independence Festival. The sound of gongs and acclamation echoed through mountains and forests when people took part in sports activities and folk games and sang folk songs of the Muong ethnic minority group. This is a cultural tradition of the Muong people since the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which is now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, was founded.

Muong Thang has been covered with a "new coat” - the "coat” of prosperity. Overcoming difficulties at the time when it was newly established, the Party Organization, administration and people of ethnic groups in Cao Phong district have joined hands in capitalizing on local potentials and advantages to successfully implement the resolutions of Party congresses at all levels, along with socio-economic development targets and plans.

In 2016, per capita income in the district was 32.8 million VND (over 1,440 USD), 12 times higher than that at the time Cao Phong was established. The economic structure is shifting in a positive manner with the increasing proportions of industry-handicrafts and services and the decrease of agriculture (agriculture and forestry make up 46 percent, industry-handicrafts 28 percent, and services 26 percent). Meanwhile, nearly 30 billion VND (1.32 million USD) was collected for the State budget, equivalent to 142 percent of the target set in the 2016 Resolution. Cao Phong has also worked to optimize local potentials to develop commercial crop production. The area of citrus fruit trees has expanded to more than 2,000ha, over 900ha of which have borne fruits for sale with an estimated output of 23,000 tonnes and an economic benefit of 600-800 million VND (26,400 – 35,200 USD) per ha.

This year, the Cao Phong district People’s Committee organised cultural and art activities to celebrate the Independence Festival. Since late August, local people have decorated all roads in their hamlets and hung the national flags at their homes. These days, through loudspeakers, the achievements and significance of the August Revolution in 1945 had been popularized. A number of folk games were held to serve people on September 2.

In Dung Phong commune, people of different ages wearing their most beautiful costumes came to the commune’s stadium from the early morning of September 2 to participate in cultural activities marking the Independence Festival. The entire commune became boisterous with cheers supporting athletes in pole pushing, football and volleyball events.

Over the past years, a special celebration of the Independence Festival in Dung Phong commune has been a cuisine fair which attracted a large number of visitors. Each hamlet had a booth displaying local agricultural delicacies. Muong ethnic women also showed off their skills by making colourful dishes such as five-colour steamed sticky rice, steamed vegetables and rice in bamboo tubes, adding joyfulness to the atmosphere of the Independence Festival./.



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