Promoting regional cultural values ​​through festivals

Sacred festival

King Mai Temple Festivalis a traditional festival imbued with national cultural identity, held annually to recall the heroic spirit of the Hoan Chau Uprising, defeating the Northern invaders, building the independent Van An country in the early 8th century. Every year, starting from January 12-15, the Mai King Temple Festival is solemnly held, attracting tens of thousands of people to attend the festival.

Mr. Vuong Hong Thai - Vice Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee said that in addition to the solemn ceremony, visitors can also immerse themselves in the joyful but national atmosphere in folk games such as traditional boat racing, wrestling, chess...

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The Mai King Festival is a major festival of the people in the region. Every year, the district has a document closely directing the implementation of the ceremonies and festivals, so that all activities take place to ensure the sacredness and cultural character.

Mr. Vuong Hong Thai - Vice Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee

People from all over the Nam Thanh - Bac Nghe regions are excited when coming to the Con Temple Festival, one of the most unique festivals in the spring festivals in Nghe An. The Con Temple Festival is large-scale, long-standing and rich in cultural identity. Since its restoration, the festival has undergone many periods of organization with unique traditional rituals such as: Betel offering ceremony, Buffalo offering ceremony, Cake offering ceremony, Saint procession ceremony to the pagoda to give thanks, Grand offering ceremony, especially the Origination Ceremony associated with the legends of "Tran Anh Tong's dream" or "Legend of the sacred log". Because of its profound historical and spiritual values, the Con Temple Festival has been recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The special thing about this festival is not only the ceremony, but also the festival, which is the Voi running custom. The Voi running custom has been associated with the spiritual life of the people here for hundreds of years. This year, the Voi running custom takes place after the fishing ceremony on the morning of February 18. Four palanquins, each carried by 20 strong young men from the Quynh Phuong fishing village, run fast and toss the palanquins into the air to the bustling sound of gongs and drums and the cheers of thousands of visitors.

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The Voi Run is a unique ritual imbued with the spiritual and cultural identity of the Con Temple Festival. The procession and tossing of the palanquin in the Voi Run reenacts the story of the villagers of Phuong Can going down to Phu Luong village to steal the sacred wood. This is an act of spiritual significance as the sacred wood represents luck.

Ms. Dang Phuong Lan - Head of Department of Building Cultural Lifestyle & Family, Department of Culture & Sports

In addition to the two special festivals taking place in the plains and coastal areas, the festivals taking place in the highlands of Nghe An also preserve the sacredness and cultural identity of the region. These include the Muong Ham festival in Chau Cuong commune, Quy Hop district; the Hang Bua festival in Quy Chau district; the Van Cua Rao Temple festival in Tuong Duong... These are festivals to commemorate the saints who founded the village and taught the villagers how to grow crops and build a prosperous life.

The special feature of the Nghe An highland festival is that the offerings to the village guardian spirit are made by people from all the villages. The offerings are local products grown by the people. The festival part of the highland festivals still preserves traditional games such as throwing con, pushing sticks, jumping bamboo poles... which not only attract people from all nine villages and ten villages but also attract tourists from near and far, creating a cultural picture imbued with national identity.

Promoting heritage values

Nghe An currently has 26 festivals, including 19 spring festivals taking place from February 2 to April 1. These festivals attract a large number of tourists and are carefully prepared at the district and commune levels.

Ms. Dang Phuong Lan - Head of the Department of Building Cultural Lifestyle and Family, Department of Culture & Sports said: Since the end of December 2024, we have advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue Document No. 11848/UBND-VX on strengthening the management and organization of festivals in 2025. The document clearly states: People's Committees of districts, cities and towns actively promote historical and cultural relics, the origin of festivals associated with the culture and people of Nghe An. Pay attention to implementing measures to support the restoration and protection of traditional festivals associated with the organization of cultural and sports activities, in order to maintain unique and typical cultural values, meeting the spiritual life of the people, especially traditional festivals that have been listed in the list of national intangible cultural heritages such as the Nine-Room Temple Festival, Ong Hoang Muoi Festival, Bach Ma Temple Festival, Thanh Liet Temple Festival, Qua Son Temple Festival, Yen Luong Temple Festival, Nguyen Canh Hoan Temple Festival...

According to Ms. Dang Phuong Lan, festivals with many elements of identity such as Thanh Liet Temple Festival, Con Temple Festival... need to have ways to guide management in the organization stage, avoid loss of security and order, not to let people jostle or lose security and order. Besides, in addition to the typical rituals to promote the value of cultural identity, there are also parts of the festival with a modern breath. Typically, sports games such as volleyball, competitions to show off traditional costumes or art programs suitable for the tastes of people and tourists.

“In the past, many people thought that introducing modern games into festivals would tend to lose their identity, but over time, the units have found appropriate ways to organize, smoothly conveying values ​​that are both entertaining and honoring the beauty and goodness of contemporary life. I think those exciting festival parts also contribute to making a mark for each locality," said Ms. Phuong Lan.

Talking about preserving and promoting cultural values ​​through festival activities, Mr. Bui Cong Vinh - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture & Sports said: Currently, most festivals tend to innovate. Not only stopping at the traditional form, festivals are also expanded with many supporting activities such as exhibitions, food fairs, cultural exchanges, etc.

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Many festivals have taken the initiative to apply modern technology such as LED lights and high-tech sound to renew the festival space. Innovation is necessary to keep up with the times, but if not balanced, it can cause the festival to lose its traditional identity. Therefore, the most important thing is how to make the festival meet the criteria of attracting tourists while still maintaining the unique identity of each locality and region.

Mr. Bui Cong Vinh - Deputy Director of Department of Culture & Sports