(HBO) - On February 21 (the sixth day of the Lunar New Year), at the stadium of Dung Phong commune, the Cao Phong district People's Committee held Muong Thang Season Opening Festival in the Year of the Dog 2018. This is the first year the festival is held with the scale of the district level, on the basis of upgrading the Farming Festival of the Muong ethnic group in Dung Phong commune.
The festival began with the worshiping of the
Three Mountainous Saints at the shrine of Muong Thang (Dong Ngoai village);
worshipping ceremony at the tomb of Princess Le (Xuong Dau village); Procession
Ceremony from Muong Thang Shrine to the stadium of Dung Phong commune. Here,
when the gong and music ended, the Mo person slowly walked up to read the
request for permission to open the festival in Muong ethnic language.
After the traditional ceremony, in the
opening session, the organizers highlighted the meaning of the Festival,
outlined the achievements of socio-economic development of the district and
told the activities during the Festival. The organizers of the festival desired
that the committees and administrations from the district to the communes,
towns and local people who are far from the homeland, visitors always aim for
the source, continue to invest, embellish, preserve and manage the Cultural
relics and revolutional relics to promote more valuable historical-cultural
relics, contributing to the history of cultural and Revolutional tradition of
Muong Thang homeland, building Dung Phong commune to become a strong, civilized commune, and leading in
the movement to build new rural agricultural area.

Art Program celebrating Muong Thang Season
Opening Festival in the Year of the Dog 2018.
The art program is started with the
performance of the Muong gongs of nearly 200 actors who are gong artists and
mass performers, which recreated the history of the festival, flower garden
legend, Coi mountain and introduced typical cultural characteristics and
typical products of Cao Phong district.
At the festival, visitors can visit, enjoy
the booth displaying, introducing cultural products, cuisine of the communes,
towns in the district. Besides, at the Festival, there are also performances of
singing Ví, Đúm, Muong gongs; organizing sports tournaments, folk games;
exchanging art performances and performing ethnic costumes.
According to the plan, Muong Thang Season
Opening Festival in the Year of the Dog 2018 would be held until the end of the
morning of February 22 (the 7th of Lunar New Year).
With an increasingly vibrant and widespread emulation movement aimed at building cultured residential areas and cultured families, Yen Thuy District has been making steady progress toward improving both the material and spiritual well-being of its people, while fostering a civilized, prosperous, beautiful, and progressive community.
Once lacking recreational spaces and community facilities, Residential Group 2 in Quynh Lam Ward (Hoa Binh City) has recently received attention for the construction of a new, spacious, and fully equipped cultural house. The project followed the model of state support combined with public contributions in both labor and funding.
The "All people unite to build cultural life" movement, which has been effectively integrated with Kim Boi district’s socio-economic development goals, is fostering a lively spirit of emulation across local residential areas, hamlets, villages, public agencies, and enterprises. In addition, through the initiative, traditional cultural values are being preserved and promoted, while community solidarity and mutual support in poverty reduction and economic development are being strengthened.
A working delegation of the Hoa Binh provincial People’s Committee led by its Permanent Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Toan on June 11 inspected the progress of a project to build the Mo Muong Cultural Heritage Conservation Space linked to tourism services in Hop Phong commune, Cao Phong district.
Born and growing in the heroic land of Muong Dong, Dinh Thi Kieu Dung, a resident in Bo town of Kim Boi district, in her childhood was nurtured by the sweet lullabies of her grandmother and mother. These melodies deeply imprinted on her soul, becoming an inseparable part of her love for her ethnic group's culture. For over 20 years, this love for her hometown has driven Dung to research, collect, and pass down the cultural values of the Muong people to future generations.
In the final days of May, the Ethnic Art Troupe of Hoa Binh Province organized performances to serve the people in remote, mountainous, and particularly disadvantaged areas within the province. These were not just ordinary artistic shows, but they were the meaningful journeys aimed at spreading cultural values, enhancing the spiritual life of the people and contributing to the preservation of ethnic minority cultural identities.