(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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