More than 1,000 performers and artists have participated in the 2018 Tay Nguyen Gong Culture Festival in Gia Lai province. This year, children as young as the age of six performed at the event. This marks the next generation of gong performers and promotes the unique culture of ethnic minorities.

The 2018 Tay Nguyen Gong Culture Festival took place in Gia Lai province from November 30 to December 2. The event witnessed a remarkable growth in the number of young performers. 

The festival’s main activities included traditional rituals, folk wood sculpture, brocade weaving, epic recitals, photo and document exhibitions, and conferences on the preservation and promotion of gong culture legacy of ethnic races in the region, among others.

The gong is closely linked to the daily life of local people in Tay Nguyen. Their belief systems form a mystical world where the gongs serve as a privileged language between men, divinities and the supernatural world.

Currently, Tay Nguyen or the Central Highlands region has more than 10,000 sets of gongs, over half of which are kept in Gia Lai province.-VNA