A ritual at the Xang Khan festival of the Thai ethnic minority people. (Photo VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – About 30 ethnic minority groups from acrossVietnam will show off their distinctive culture at Vietnam’s Ethnic Culture Daywhich is slated for April 19-22 in Hanoi, according to the Ministry of Culture,Sports and Tourism.
Some 270 people from the ethnic minority groups will stage traditionalfestivals and worship rituals at the Culture and Tourism Villages of VietnameseEthnic Groups in Son Tay district, 45km west of Hanoi’s centre.
Ahighlight of these activities will be a cultural night on April 19 to honourthe country’s rich cultural diversity, while the event will also host differentfestivals for ethnic communities from three regions – Khmer Krom from thesouthern part of Vietnam and others from the northwest and the CentralHighlands.
The cultural day of the Khmer peoplewill recreate the Chol Chnam Thmay, the Khmer New Year festival and feature “DuKe”, a style of musical theatre created by the Khmer people in Vietnam in theearly 1920s.
Du Ke originatedfrom workers in the Mekong Delta. In the early days, it was performed on land, under a simple roof.Actors were peasants turning into kings, queens and ogresses. The singing drama uses poetry based on Indian epics, forexample, Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Some accounts say Du keoriginated in Tra Vinh province in 1921 by someone called Son Kuu, while otherscredit a person called Ly Kon in Soc Trang. But in general, it is the productof the creativity of the Khmer people on either bank of the Ba Sac River.
On the cultural day of ethnic minority people from the northwest, the Thaiethnic group in Nghe An will recreate their Xang Khan festival that aims toremind people to do good things for themselves, their families and thecommunity. There will be a series of cooking demonstrations of traditionaldishes by Tay (Thai Nguyen), Dao (Hanoi), Mong (Ha Giang), Muong (Hoa Binh), KhoMu (Dien Bien) and Thai (Son La) people.
The Gia Rai ethnic peoplefrom the Central Highlands will perform their traditional rain-making ritualwhich is practiced in April-May every year to pray for rain and bumper cropswhile traditional music of the region will also be played during the event.
Vietnam’s Ethnic Culture Day 2018 willbe the 10th edition, so workshops and exhibitions will be held tocelebrate the anniversary.-VNA
VNA
