Lotus Village Festival - Ho Chi Minh Cultural Festival

The Sen Village Festival has been and is being organized both simply and sacredly like traditional festivals, and also has the nature of a great festival of the whole nation... On this occasion, comrade Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee had an interview with Nghe An Newspaper.

The procession of Uncle Ho's portrait from the President Ho Chi Minh Memorial House at the Kim Lien Special National Relic Site to Lang Sen Stadium. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

PV: Could you please tell us more about the historical significance of organizing the Sen Village Festival?

Comrade Bui Dinh Long:On the occasion of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday in 1981, Nghe - Tinh province solemnly organized the Political Song Festival about Uncle Ho. Seeing that this was a meaningful and promising cultural and political activity, which was responded to by many classes of people and cadres, the following year, the Political Song Festival about Uncle Ho was upgraded to LLotus Village Singing Festivaland is held annually.

On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Uncle Ho's birthday (2001), the Ministry of Culture and Information coordinated with Nghe An province to summarize 20 years of Sen Village Singing and decided to convert the Sen Village Singing Festival intoLotus Village Festival. The Lotus Village Festival is held on two scales: Provincial level held annually and nationwide held every 5 years on the occasion of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday. In 2003, for the first time, the Lotus Village Festival was held on a national scale.

The Sen Village Festival is a cultural event of great significance. The festival is held to express the people's respect, gratitude and admiration for President Ho Chi Minh; to propagate, educate and continue to promote the study and following of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style among cadres, party members and the people; to introduce and promote the culture of Sen Village, Nghe An homeland to friends and tourists at home and abroad.

After many times of organization, the influence of Sen Village Festival has become increasingly stronger, becoming an indispensable highlight in every annual celebration of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday (May 19). In 2022, Sen Village Festival will be held at the provincial level, with the theme of honoring President Ho Chi Minh and the cultural values ​​of Sen Village, Nam Dan hometown; praising Nghe An hometown for innovation, integration and development. This year's festival will be held from May 14 to May 28, 2022 in Nam Dan district and Vinh city, with a series of activities to celebrate the 132nd anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday (May 19, 1890 - May 19, 2022), including many new and unique contents.

PV: Can you tell us more about the festival activities, especially the new activities?

Opening of the 2022 Lotus Village Festival. Photo: Duc Anh

Comrade Bui Dinh Long:The 2022 Sen Village Festival includes 5 ceremonial activities: Flower offering ceremony in front of Uncle Ho's statue at Ho Chi Minh Square; Flower and incense offering ceremony at President Ho Chi Minh Memorial House and Chung Son Temple; Procession of Uncle Ho's portrait from President Ho Chi Minh Memorial House at Kim Lien Special National Relic Site to Sen Village Stadium; Opening ceremony of Sen Village Festival and "National Tuong and Folk Opera Festival 2022"; Festival summary at Ho Chi Minh Square.

The festival includes many unique, rich and meaningful activities and events organized with the participation and coordination of many agencies, units and individuals nationwide. First of all, the art program "Mother of Sen Village" was organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union in coordination with Nghe An province on the evening of May 14 at Ho Chi Minh Square, Vinh city. The program was broadcast live on Vietnam Television. The program was meant to honor Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan - the mother of President Ho Chi Minh - a mother, a responsible and kind woman who contributed significantly to the formation of Ho Chi Minh's personality.

The "Lotus Life" Art Photography Exhibition by Photographer Tran Bich (Ho Chi Minh City) takes place from May 14-19, 2022. There are 50 works on display at the exhibition.

In Kim Lien commune (Nam Dan), cultural, artistic and sports activities such as: Volleyball tournament, traditional martial arts tournament; folk games, camping... take place from May 15-19, 2022.

Next is the exhibition of photos about Uncle Ho with the themes "Studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style" at Ho Chi Minh Square from May 16, 2022; "Ho Chi Minh is the most beautiful name" at Kim Lien Relic Site from May 16, 2022. In addition, from May 16-19, 2022, there will be an exhibition introducing culinary culture and typical products of Nghe An province at Ho Chi Minh Square, Kim Lien Relic Site and Sen Village, Kim Lien.

Lotus Village Singing Festival. Photo: Duc Anh

The 2022 National Tuong and Folk Drama Festival, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will take place from May 17-28, 2022 at Nghe An Folk Song Theater. The festival will feature 16 plays with the participation of more than 250 actors from 11 professional art troupes across the country. After the festival, the Organizing Committee will select a number of excellent plays to perform in a number of localities in the province.

The Lotus Village Singing Festival and the "Sac Sen Xu Nghe" Contest will take place from May 18-19, 2022 at Kim Lien Relic Site...

The Ao Dai Sen art and performance program coordinated by the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City took place on the evening of May 19, 2022... The "Hello Nam Dan" online photo contest was chaired by the Department of Tourism in coordination with Nam Dan district. The contest was launched in May 2022 and the award ceremony was held in July 2022.

PV: Recently, Nghe An province has proposed to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to upgrade the "Sen Village Festival" to "Ho Chi Minh Cultural Festival". Can you tell us the significance of upgrading the festival?

Comrade Bui Dinh Long:As mentioned, the Sen Village Festival is a great creation of Nghe An. The most obvious and boldest feature of the festival is the expression of respect and deep gratitude of all classes of people towards President Ho Chi Minh; thereby, educating patriotism, revolutionary ideals and ethics, political mettle, and his cultural personality for the entire Party, the entire army, and the entire people, especially the youth, teenagers, and children... From a private creation, the festival has become a shared sentiment and responsibility of each generation of Vietnamese people. The Sen Village Festival has become a festival of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The art program "Mother of Sen Village" honors Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan - mother of President Ho Chi Minh. Photo: Duc Anh

The Sen Village Festival was organized in a simple and sacred manner like traditional festivals, while also having the characteristics of a great national festival. From the sacredness of the festival, people are interested in studying; understanding more, imbuing more deeply the ideals and noble life of the President. From consciousness to perception and behavior, these cultural activities have contributed to shining the feelings, thoughts and great contributions of President Ho Chi Minh to contemporary life, making the political orientation and basic viewpoints of the Party reach the people in the most natural and smooth way...

Therefore, the Lotus Village Festival has become a festival with strong appeal and influence in the mind; an indispensable highlight every time May comes. The Lotus Village Festival has truly become a need for community cultural activities, an indispensable spiritual food for the masses.

In another aspect, the Sen Village Festival is a cultural festival that not only contributes practically to the work of preserving and promoting Ho Chi Minh's cultural values, but also contributes to preserving the cultural heritage values ​​of the nation, is the cradle for nurturing artistic talents in localities in the province, and develops mass art movements nationwide.

People visiting Uncle Ho's hometown in May. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

Thus, the Sen Village Festival has a full theoretical and practical basis to become the Ho Chi Minh Cultural Festival. The Sen Village Festival becoming the Ho Chi Minh Cultural Festival will contribute to making the values ​​of Ho Chi Minh shine, penetrate deeply and have eternal vitality for the future of the nation; have a strong influence and effect on all classes of people, ethnic groups, and religions not only in the province and the country but also reaching out to the region and the world. The scale of the festival no longer only takes place in the homeland of Nghe An but becomes a cultural and artistic activity spread throughout the provinces and cities in the country, including overseas Vietnamese. As an exemplary cultural festival, the Ho Chi Minh Cultural Festival will change the awareness and actions of people in all fields... In addition, the festival is also one of the attractive tourism products for domestic and foreign tourists. As the center of the festival, the beauty of Hong - Lam culture and famous landscapes of Nghe An will certainly be known and visited by more people.

In recent years, deeply aware of the value of the festival, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Nghe An province have focused on directing the development so that the Sen Village Festival is truly a Ho Chi Minh Cultural Festival with strong humanistic and popular characteristics, and at the same time becomes a brand of Nghe An tourism. Currently, the organization of the festival has been on the right track, choosing highlights, promoting the values ​​of truth - goodness - beauty.

PV: Thank you, comrade!