The recent 2023 folk art festival of ethnic minority groups in Hoa Binh province featured outstanding performance of songs and dances as well as reenactments of outstanding festivals, leaving good impression on folk art lovers.
An impressive performance of Lac Son district at the festival.
During the two-day festival, nearly 300 artisans and artists from 10 district-level localities across Hoa Binh showed their outstanding singing and dancing performances and reenacted some outstanding arts and festivals of their ethnic groups and localities. The event aimed to help preserve and bring into play cultural heritage values of local ethnic minorities.
Luu Huy Linh, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and head of the festival organising committee, said that on the occasion of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day (November 23), the department stepped up the organisation of folk art festivals of ethnic minority groups at all levels.
As many as 80 of the 151 communal-level localities organised festivals with more than 16,000 performers, attracting over 40,000 spectators. Ten district-level festivals were also held with the participation of 10 communes, wards, and townships, 3,400 performers, and over 10,000 spectators. The provincial-level event featured performances by people of all age groups, including many holding the Meritorious Artist and People’s Artist titles.
In particular, part of traditional cultural rituals, festivals, and ceremonies were also reenacted, helping spectators gain a better understanding of cultural and religious identities of ethnic groups.
Linh went on to say that those festivals provided not only playgrounds for folk art groups but also occasions for local artisans and artists to show their skills, share experience, and improve their performing capacity. They helped enrich people’s spiritual life, maintain cultural identities of ethnic groups, and develop cultural activities in the community, thereby gradually meeting the public’s cultural enjoyment demand.
Hoa Binh province has carried out multiple programmes and initiatives to revive its cultural heritage which has gradually fallen into oblivion through the ebbs and flows of history.
The most prominent and defining feature in the prehistoric era of Hoa Binh is the Hoa Binh Culture. The Culture was first discovered in Hoa Binh. The significant prehistoric culture represents not only Vietnam but also Southeast Asia and southern China. Through excavations of cave sites in the limestone regions of Hoa Binh, French archaeologist M. Colani introduced the world to a "Stone Age in Hoa Binh province – Northern Vietnam" in 1927. On January 30, 1932, the First Congress of Far Eastern Prehistorians, held in Hanoi, officially recognised the Hoa Binh Culture.
Known as the "Land of Epic History”, Hoa Binh province, the gateway to Vietnam’s northwest, boasts a strategic location and a unique cultural tapestry woven by its ethnic minority communities.
The People's Committee of Luong Son District recently held a ceremony to receive the certificate recognizing Sau Communal House in Thanh Cao Commune as a provincial-level historical and cultural site.
Recognising the importance of cultural heritage preservation in protecting and promoting the value system of Vietnamese culture, and serving socio-economic development in the new period, Party committees and local administrations in Hoa Binh province have identified it as a key task in the cultural development strategy. The province has been making efforts in mobilising resources, creating consensus among people and engaging ethnic communities in preserving and promoting cultural identity.
Hoa Binh province has captured growing attention both domestically and internationally for its distinctive cultural heritage and rich history. Most notably, it has been renowned for its famous Hoa Binh culture, considered the cradle of ancient Vietnamese civilisation. Looking ahead to significant milestones in 2025 and the 140th anniversary of province establishment in 2026, Hoa Binh Newspaper presents a comprehensive overview of the province's development across economic, social, cultural, tourism, and security domains.
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