Sunday, November 8, 2009

22 ethnic groups to join Gong Festival


8/11/2009

The People’s Committee of Gia Lai Province November 7 announced 22 ethnic groups and five gong troupes from Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Laos and Myanmar will join the International Gong Festival 2009.

The authorities held a meeting to announce its preparation for the International Gong Festival 2009, which will be held for the first time in the central highland province of Gia Lai from 12 – 15 November.

Pham The Dung, chairman of the committee said 25 provinces and cities, with a total of 35 troupes including 788 people, will join the festival.

The festival will feature the Central Highlands’ gong culture, a unique Vietnamese art form recognized as an Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

The festival will include gong performances, gong tuning performances, sculpting, exhibitions of the Central Highlands’ ethnic culture, craft villages, seminars on tourism products attached to gong culture and the preservation of gong culture, a conference on investment in the province and local cuisine and drinks.

The province has asked travel companies for special tours to attract visitors.

The opening ceremony of the festival, with a fireworks show, will take place at 8pm on November 12 at March 17 Square and broadcast live on VTV.

The festival will help people in Gia Lai be aware of preserving the most specific cultural values of communal activities and gongs, said Deputy Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism Tran Chien Thang.

By D.Trung- Translated by Quoc Thoi

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