HÀ GIANG — The Mông Culture Day, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Hà Giang’s People Committee, began yesterday in northern mountainous Hà Giang Province. 

The event aims to promote the traditional culture of the Mông group, one of 54 different ethnic minorities in Việt Nam, with performances by artists from 13 different provinces.

“Preserving the culture of ethnic groups is an important task in the context of modernisation. The event is also a meaningful cultural activity and an opportunity to promote the indigenous culture of Mông people and for the Mông group to showcase their responsibility for traditional culture preservation,” said Nguyễn Văn Bình, Head of the Northwest Steering Committee.

“Mông people in Hà Giang maintain many unique traditional cultural values, making the province an attractive destination for researchers and international and domestic visitors,” said Nguyễn Văn Sơn, Chairman of the Hà Giang People’s Committee.

The culture day occurs on November 19 with various activities including traditional Mông costume and art performances and a space where traditional games, festivals and linen hand woven crafts will be exhibited.

Participating provinces will also prepare some traditional food and drink of Mông people like corn wine, mèn mén (steamed minced corn) and thắng cố (a dish made from horse meat and its organs).

From yesterday, Mông people gathered at the event’s main location, Hà Giang square, to prepare for the event.

Hoàng Văn Sinh, a Mông native in Bắc Kạn province, was invited to perform at the event. 

"Men in the family will make traditional corn wine and women will make traditional costumes at the event. This is a good opportunity to introduce and preserve our traditional food and culture," said Sinh, 70. 

"Corn is a staple in our area. I learned to make corn wine from my father. Normally, we make wine for family use but if someone wants to buy it, we also sell at VNĐ30,000 per litre," said Sinh. 

Giàng Thị Xay from Hà Giang brought her weaving machine to introduce linen weaving. “Most Mông women know to weave linen. We make clothes for the family and recently joined a co-operative to make clothes, bags and purses for sale,” said Xay.

Meanwhile, Sùng Sáu Chính has a booth to exhibit and sell traditional instruments of Mông people which include flute, khèn, traditional bamboo instrument and gậy sinh tiền, an instrument used in traditional festivals and funerals. 

"These instruments were made by my father, who is among very few people carrying on the craft. It takes lots of time and patience so not many young people learn this," said Chính. 

This year’s event is the second of its kind.

Hà Giang, northernmost mountainous province of Việt Nam is home to 19 different ethnic groups. Among them, the Mông group accounts for nearly 33 per cent of Hà Giang’s population. — VNS