A performance at the International Gong Festival. VNA photo

 GIA LAI—The central province of Gia Lai opened the International Gong Festival in Pleiku Ward on November 7, part of the 2026 Gong Festival – Chu Dang Ya Volcano – Wild Sunflower Week run by the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Biển Hồ Commune.

Nearly 300 artisans representing 39 delegations from 10 cities and provinces, including Gia Lai, Quảng Trị, Huế City and Đà Nẵng, joined thousands of residents and domestic and foreign tourists at the event.

At the opening ceremony, thousands of visitors and locals watched gong performances, dances and gong medleys evoking the rice harvest and the carrying of water to the village, with tributes to a peaceful country and a warmer, more prosperous life.

On the occasion, the province announced that the Ko Do gong set has been recognised by the Prime Minister as a national treasure. The Jrai gong set is a special artifact with historical and artistic value and a store of cultural memory passed down through generations. It dates from around the late 19th to early 20th century and has eight pieces, including five flat and three bossed gongs handcrafted with refined technique to produce a warm, resonant and uniquely blended sound.

Over more than a century, the set has been kept by generations of a Jrai family and tied to traditional rituals and major community events. Each gong sound is not just music but also carries stories of ancestors, beliefs and the bond between nature and community. Its value lies not only in the rarity and intactness of the artifact but also in the folk knowledge, gong tuning technique, performance art and cultural memory held in every sound.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Phạm Anh Tuấn said the Central Highlands Gong Cultural Space, named by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005, is a source of pride for the Central Highlands and for Việt Nam as a whole.

The week runs from October 30 to November 8, with exchanges and performances of ethnic music and instruments by clubs, bands, music groups and art units; a reenactment of the Jrai new communal house celebration, and the exhibition “Gia Lai Gong Cultural Space”. VNA/VNS