Socializing festival activities in Quynh Luu
(Baonghean) -Quynh Luu is the northernmost district of Nghe An, located on the main North-South traffic route, with 43 communes and towns, nearly 390,000 people, of which 14% are Catholic, some are Buddhist, some are ethnic minorities, the economic structure is distinct by region, creating diversity and richness in cultural life.
Through the changes of history, traditional festivals in Quynh Luu have not kept their original identity intact. But regardless of the period, festivals in Quynh Luu are a healthy form of cultural activity, and are popular in social life, attracting a large number of people from all walks of life to participate. Traditional folk festivals have been restored such as: Con Temple Festival, Ky Phuc Festival (Quynh Doi), Thuong Temple Festival (Quynh Nghia), Xuan Hoa Temple, Phung Hung Temple (Quynh Xuan), Chinh Temple (Tien Thuy), Kim Lung Temple (Mai Hung)...
Con Temple Festival. Photo: Nguyen To Canh.
The highlight of traditional festivals in Quynh Luu is that they have been highly socialized. People have contributed tens of billions of dong to renovate relics, purchase and restore sacrificial objects, hundreds of working days to practice and participate in festivals. State management of festivals has received due attention, safety and order during the festival are guaranteed, there are no superstitious activities... In particular, the Con Temple Festival has been restored since 1999, and has maintained its position since then: "First Con, second Qua, third Bach Ma, fourth Chieu Trung". The festival is held on the 20th and 21st of the first lunar month every year, mobilizing a lot of work and money from local people, visitors and benefactors to organize activities, renovate and restore the Con Temple relic, associated with Hoang Mai industrial park, opening up a great potential for economic development, spiritual culture and tourism. From June to December 31, 2012 alone, Con Temple, which was transferred to the district for management, mobilized 2,076,324 thousand VND in donations (of which 1,585,624 thousand VND in cash and 490,700 thousand VND in cash equivalents).
The success of socialization in festival activities in Quynh Luu is reflected in the positivity, proactiveness, and self-awareness of the people and the entire community, the attention, leadership, and direction of Party committees and authorities at all levels, and the synchronous coordination of departments, branches, and organizations from the province to the grassroots level; at the same time, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism proactively builds plans early, assigns specific responsibilities to each member of the organizing committee and sub-committees, does a good job of propaganda, direction, guidance, and preparation of conditions to ensure... After the festivals, meetings are held to summarize, draw experiences, and promptly reward and encourage.
In the coming time, continuing to implement the Resolution of the Central Committee V (VIII term) on "Building and developing an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity", Quynh Luu has regulations for organizing festival activities, implementing the Project to build a standard cultural and sports institution, festival activities associated with historical and cultural relics, exploiting the potential and traditional cultural identity of relics, localities and regions to gradually restore and upgrade in association with tourism development. The content and forms of organizing festivals are discussed by the Department of Culture and related levels and sectors, through the workshop, drawing out models, making them role models for learning, better organizing, meeting the spiritual needs and cultural and sports exchanges, contributing to improving the cultural and spiritual life of the people of the district in the process of innovation and integration.
Ho Thanh Khuong (Quynh Luu)
