Building grassroots culture: A year in review

(Baonghean) - 2014 ended with quite a lot of exciting cultural and information activities at the grassroots level; thereby, contributing to improving the spiritual life of the people...

One of the outstanding activities of grassroots culture in 2014 is the movement "All people unite to build a cultural life" associated with the construction of new rural areas. Coming to Hung Tan commune (Hung Nguyen), one of the communes that achieved new rural standards in 2014, we can feel the excitement of the people here. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien's family - a typical cultural family of hamlet 6, said: "The day the commune received the new rural standard certificate was like a festival, the whole village, the whole hamlet was bustling. Like my family, both husband and wife are farmers, and also work as construction workers and raise livestock, so life is stable". During the period of supporting the hamlet, the commune opened roads, built hamlet cultural houses, and built campuses, her family was always at the forefront.

She thought: I am a rural woman, my knowledge is limited so I have to strive, in addition to farming, I also have to spend time to exchange and learn through women's club activities... And to have a place for women to live, building a cultural house in the hamlet that meets the new rural criteria is extremely important, because with a cultural house, people will have a place to live, meet, organize other cultural and sports activities... This New Year's Eve, the cultural house in hamlet 6 was completed and put into use. New Year's activities such as performing arts, football, volleyball... took place enthusiastically, creating an exciting atmosphere for everyone to enter the new year...

Mr. Nguyen Van Minh - Cultural officer of Hung Tan commune said: The effectiveness of the movement "All people unite to build a cultural life" associated with the construction of new rural areas is most evident in the material facilities for cultural activities that have changed significantly. Previously, many hamlets did not have a cultural house, and the sports grounds were not guaranteed, but now 9/9 hamlets have cultural houses that meet the criteria for new rural areas, thanks to which, the organizations and associations in the hamlets have the conditions to organize many activities. For example, in 2014, the Sen Village Singing Festival was organized at the hamlet level, volleyball exchanges, exchanges between hamlet clubs... Since then, the cultural and spiritual life of farmers has been improved...

Wrestling festival in Nam Xuan commune, Nam Dan district.

The movement "All people unite to build a cultural life" associated with new rural construction has been widely deployed in all localities in the province, contributing to enriching the cultural life at the grassroots level. Up to now, the number of communes, wards and towns that have planned land to build cultural and sports facilities in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism associated with new rural construction is 435/480 communes, reaching 90.6%. The number of communes, wards and towns with cultural and sports facilities: 396/480 communes, reaching 82.5%. The number of villages, hamlets and blocks with cultural houses and sports playgrounds: 5,182/5,859 villages, reaching 88.4%. The number of communes, wards and towns with cultural and sports facilities meeting the standards according to the province's regulations: 230/480 communes, reaching 47.8%.

The highlight of grassroots culture in 2014 is the effective maintenance of clubs and mass art teams. Up to now, the activities of mass art clubs have been closed from communes, wards, towns to hamlets, villages, hamlets, blocks, and streets. Currently, according to incomplete statistics, the whole province has more than 2,000 mass art teams operating vigorously.

Mr. Tran Duy Hung - Director of Thanh Chuong District Cultural and Sports Center said: Identifying grassroots cultural activities plays an important role in the spiritual life of the people, especially those in rural areas. The highlight of 2014 was that Thanh Chuong organized the mass art festival "Sen Village Singing" on a district-wide scale, which was considered one of the most exciting activities, rich in content and attracted a large number of non-professional actors to participate; becoming a "playground" for many different ages, where viewers encountered the image of old ladies and old men next to teenagers and children, along with fathers and mothers enthusiastically practicing and enthusiastically performing smooth, profound folk songs... Currently, the district has built more than 20 clubs as the core in propaganda campaigns on elections, drug prevention and control, family planning, building a new cultural lifestyle, building cultural families, villages, hamlets, blocks, and cultural neighborhoods...

In 2014, the activities of clubs across the province have increasingly developed in the direction of socialization to survive, serve the tastes and preferences of club members and the needs of the masses, contributing to the preservation and promotion of traditional cultural values. Typical examples are the Nam Dan Folk Song Club; the Ca Tru Club and the Dien Chau Music Club, the Pure Thai and Pure Tho Folk Culture Club (Quy Hop), the Nghi Trung Folk Song Club (Nghi Loc), the Bao Thanh Folk Song Club (Yen Thanh), the Hoa Son Folk Song Club (Anh Son); the Phong Village Folk Song and Dance Club, Thach Giam Commune (Tuong Duong), the Song Mai Poetry Club (Quynh Luu)... and many newly established folk song clubs but initially had many practical activities. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai - an artist of Xuan Hoa Folk Song Club (Nam Dan) said: The folk song club has been maintained for more than 10 years, although there are still many difficulties, the activities of the club have met the cultural needs of the people, is a place for exchange and learning for those who love folk songs, vi phuong vai. Every time the village or commune has a festival, holiday, or New Year, the members of the club serve the people with "homegrown" songs and singing imbued with the soul of the countryside, making the cultural life of the countryside increasingly rich and prosperous.

In addition to the activities of clubs and mass art troupes, information, propaganda and agitation activities have also received investment attention. In addition to regular activities, this year, units have built many new large agitation clusters, welcome gates at the district and town centers, cultural activity venues, decorated ceremonies and celebrations in halls and cultural houses, etc. In particular, the mountainous districts of Con Cuong, Tuong Duong, Ky Son, Anh Son, Tan Ky, Thanh Chuong, Quy Chau, Que Phong, etc. have promoted the role of mobile information teams, eliminating "blank spots" and "depressed areas" to bring information, cultural and spiritual life to people in remote, isolated and disadvantaged areas. Last year was also the year that festival activities in the whole province were proactively and more vibrantly implemented by localities, satisfying the spiritual needs of the masses and visitors from near and far. From traditional festivals such as Cuong Temple Festival, Hoang Muoi Temple Festival, Pu Nha Thau Festival, Hang Bua Festival, Chin Gian Temple Festival... to Cua Lo River Festival and memorial festivals such as Sen Village Festival, Drinking Water Remembering Its Source Festival... have entered the cultural and spiritual life of the people.

Mr. Bui Cong Vinh - Director of the Provincial Cultural and Sports Center, said: Although the grassroots cultural life has improved a lot, it is generally concentrated in the centers of cities, towns and townships. People in remote, isolated and disadvantaged districts still lack entertainment venues and community-based cultural and sports activities. One of the strategies to bring the cultural and spiritual life of the mountainous people to catch up with the lowlands of our province in the coming time is to further promote the effectiveness of the movement "All people unite to build a cultural life", step up the implementation of the Project "Building standard cultural, information and sports institutions", the Project "Preserving and promoting ethnic sports in Western Nghe An", the Project "Strengthening investment in building and developing the system of grassroots cultural and sports institutions in remote and isolated areas"...

Article and photos:Thanh Thuy