The best of the best

With the theme "Great Central Highlands - Convergence of quintessence", the festival gathered nearly 600 artisans, artists, actors, athletes from 5 provinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong. The festival is a meeting place, converging many cultural colors and quintessence of the Central Highlands ethnic groups through main activities such as: Performance, introduction of festival excerpts, traditional ethnic cultural rituals; exhibition space to introduce and promote traditional cultural products of the locality; display and introduction of traditional local cuisine; mass art festival and performance of costumes of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands; mass sports activities, tourism activities...

Delegates and tourists were impressed when they saw the Ro Mam people in Le village, Mo Rai commune, Sa Thay district, Kon Tum province reenacting the Rice Granary Opening Ceremony. The Ro Mam boys and girls joined in the sound of gongs, dances, and prayers, authentically recreating the meaning of the Rice Granary Opening Ceremony that has been preserved for generations. The Ro Mam are one of the smallest ethnic groups but have preserved many unique festivals, including the Rice Granary Opening Ceremony. This ceremony is usually held for 3 days, but the preparation can take a whole month and go through many stages. The first ritual is the offering to open the rice granary, the pole-raising ceremony, the buffalo stabbing ceremony... and ends with the ritual of placing the buffalo head bone on the wall of the communal house. Artisan A Ngoc in Le village said: “The Ro Mam people hold the Rice Barn Opening Ceremony to pray and thank the gods for giving the villagers a bountiful harvest. Nowadays, the Rice Barn Opening Ceremony, like many other festivals, has been adjusted to suit the new cultural life, avoiding wasting money and time, while still preserving the unique cultural features of the Ro Mam people.”

Gong artist Rah Lan Ven, a Gia Rai ethnic group member of the Gia Lai province's art troupe, excitedly said: "Gongs are a valuable heritage of the Gia Rai people in particular and the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands in general. In the past, people only played gongs during festivals and village events, and there was no widespread exchange like now, so the values ​​of gong culture were limited within the village. In recent years, with the attention of the Party, the State, local authorities and functional agencies, many opportunities have been opened for gong culture to spread, connect, and bring many positive values ​​to the people and society."

Connecting Culture for Economic Development

Organizing the first Cultural, Sports and Tourism Festival of the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Central Highlands provinces hope to create a space for cultural connection, introducing and promoting to the public, domestic and international tourists the cultural quintessence of the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands. At the same time, strengthen the great solidarity bloc between ethnic groups and localities to promote tourism development, comprehensive economic, cultural and social development of the Central Highlands.

According to local leaders, businesses and people, the rotational organization of the Cultural, Sports and Tourism Festival of the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands is the right way to "awaken" the potential and exploit cultural resources for the socio-economic development of the Central Highlands. According to Mr. Dinh A Ngui, Chairman of the Board of Directors of A Ngui Tourism Services Company Limited (Kbang district, Gia Lai province): Culture needs to be recognized as a valuable resource, from which there are strategies and plans to preserve and promote in human development and economic development. The cultural events, festivals and festivals taking place in recent times and the first Cultural, Sports and Tourism Festival of the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands not only open up opportunities for tourism development, production and business for the business community and people but also create an exciting atmosphere and confidence in economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic. At the Gia Lai Culture-Tourism Week 2023 held in November 2023 alone, more than 165,000 domestic and international visitors came to visit and experience. Thanks to that, the total tourism revenue in November 2023 of the whole Gia Lai province is estimated at about 742 billion VND, an increase of 30.2% over the same period in 2022.

Mr. Pham Ba Luc, Director of Gia Bach Company Limited (Kon Tum City, Kon Tum Province) commented that the effects of the first Cultural, Sports and Tourism Festival of the Central Highlands ethnic groups were huge. The Central Highlands has “scored points” in the hearts of friends as a multicultural land with great development potential. Hopefully, after the festival, the Central Highlands provinces, the business community, and ethnic people will create many value chains in agriculture, tourism, and services to develop the economy commensurate with the inherent potential of this land.