Promoting cultural identity in celebrating Spring and Tet

(Baonghean) - The Year of the Goat is approaching, the Department of Culture - Sports & Tourism has been organizing cultural, artistic and sports activities to celebrate the Party - celebrate Spring, serving the people to enjoy Spring and celebrate Tet. Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with comrade Ho Mau Thanh, Provincial Party Committee member - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports & Tourism about this issue.

PV:Tet is always associated with festivals, cultural and artistic activities, and sports. To prepare for the people to enjoy Spring and celebrate Tet, what policies has our province had up to this point and how is it being implemented, comrade?

Comrade Ho Mau Thanh:Organizing people to celebrate Tet in a peaceful, safe, economical, civilized and cultural manner is the responsibility of all levels, sectors, agencies and units. The Department of Culture is assigned by the province to take care of people's spiritual life and organize recreational activities for the people. To do this well, the Provincial People's Committee has issued Instruction No. 07. The contents include:

- Responsibilities of districts, communes, villages and hamlets in organizing people to enjoy Spring and celebrate Tet: Identify central points to organize activities to enjoy Tet and welcome Spring; focus on decoration, propaganda and agitation to create an atmosphere of celebrating the Party and celebrating Spring.

- Do a good job of visiting policy families, fully implement policies and regimes for the poor, ensure everyone and every family has a peaceful and happy Tet; organize well cultural and artistic activities, sports and folk games for people to enjoy during Tet; ensure security and order and prevent negative manifestations occurring during Tet such as gambling, drinking, firecrackers; organize well the longevity celebration for the elderly, combine with Tet tree planting to forever remember Uncle Ho...

Swinging - a unique traditional game at Vac Village Festival. Photo: Sy Minh

PV:Recently, the Department of Culture - Sports & Tourism in collaboration with Tuong Duong district successfully organized the "Spring Festival of Western Nghe An", which can be said to be a very special Tet celebration activity. In addition, what other similar programs has the department organized, sir?

Comrade Ho Mau Thanh:Organizing the "Spring Festival of Western Nghe An" is an annual activity to honor the cultural values ​​of ethnic groups. In the near future, we will organize a New Year's Eve Festival at Ho Chi Minh Square with fireworks. Currently, Vinh City has done a good job of propaganda and promotion with clusters of panels, posters, banners, slogans, flower carpets, and street lights on all main streets in the city. We will have activities such as New Year's Eve Festival; organizing a Spring Newspaper Festival, organizing a Spring flower market; organizing an exhibition of economic, cultural, and technical achievements at the Provincial Cultural Center; organizing a poetry night; organizing meetings with foreigners working in Nghe An, overseas Vietnamese returning home for Tet, meeting with investors... organizing folk games and performing arts for people at central locations of the city.

PV:In recent times, the industry has paid attention to organizing entertainment activities for people during Tet, however, folk games during Tet are gradually disappearing. What do you think about this issue?

Comrade Ho Mau Thanh:I believe that folk games strongly represent the cultural identity of each region. Therefore, in the activities of celebrating Spring and Tet, localities should organize folk games to both preserve the national cultural identity and contribute to enhancing community spirit and strengthening village and neighborhood ties. Currently, some localities have incorporated folk games into the series of activities to celebrate the New Year such as: Vinh City organizes chess, human chess, and tom tom; in mountainous districts, swing and con throwing competitions; some other localities organize cooking of rice pots; making banh ca; organizing poetry nights...

PV:Going to pagodas is a spiritual and cultural feature. However, in temples and pagodas today, there are still commercial manifestations. So, in order for cultural activities to take place healthily, what solutions do you think are needed?

Comrade Ho Mau Thanh:Every year in our province, there are 25 festivals. They take place from January 6th to the end of Spring. These are spiritual activities associated with spirituality, traditional education and are indispensable needs of the people. For many years, the management of festival activities is still lacking: security and order are not good; price increases and price gouging of services and fees still occur; the situation of beggars and superstitious activities increases... making the festivals less attractive and unhealthy.

To overcome this situation, at the festival summary conference, the functional sectors clearly analyzed the shortcomings in festival management to overcome them; invited the management boards of 25 festivals to deploy the preparation work for the 2015 festival; at the same time, issued a document guiding the organization of the 2015 festival; assigned the industry inspection department to inspect the actual situation, and guide how to organize festivals at the grassroots level; the industry inspection department in conjunction with the heritage department must directly go to the site to promptly correct any errors. Currently, some festivals have been decentralized in management, so the principle must be followed that the commune organizes the festival; the script must be appraised by the district, and festivals organized by the district must be appraised by the Department. As for new festivals organized by the Department of Culture, the script must be approved by the Provincial People's Committee.

PV:During Tet, what special festivals in Nghe An attract a large number of tourists?

Comrade Ho Mau Thanh:There are 25 festivals in Nghe An, but in my opinion, there are 4 festivals that are very impressive, attracting tourists from all over the world. They are Con Temple Festival, Ong Hoang Muoi Festival, Bach Ma Temple Festival and Qua Son Temple Festival. Tourists from all over can come to these festivals to satisfy their spiritual needs!

PV:Thank you, comrade!

PV(Perform)