Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nông Quốc Thành presents the certificate recognising the Tiếu Mai Village rowing festival in Mai Đình Commune as a national intangible cultural heritage. — Photo courtesy of Bắc Giang Province People's Committee

BẮC GIANG — Hiệp Hoà District in the northern province of Bắc Giang has been recognised as meeting the required criteria of a type-four urban area.

The district also received a decision to consecrate Tiếu Mai Village rowing festival in Mai Đình Commune as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The decision declaring Hiệp Hoà District be a type-four urban area was presented by Nguyễn Cao Viên, Deputy Director of the Department of Urban Development under the Ministry of Construction (MoC).

The decision No 868/QĐ-BXD was issued on September 18, 2024, by the MoC.

Under the decision, Hiệp Hoà urban area meets the criteria for a type-four urban area, including the entire administrative boundary of Hiệp Hoà District, with an area of ​​205.99sq.m.

The inner city area includes 11 commune-level administrative units including Thắng and Bắc Lý towns and nine communes of Lương Phong, Đoan Bái, Thường Thắng, Danh Thắng, Hùng Sơn, Thái Sơn, Hương Lâm, Châu Minh and Mai Đình.

The decision to announce the Tiếu Mai Village rowing festival as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage was presented by Nông Quốc Thành, Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).

The festival was included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the MCST in Decision No 2315/QĐ-BVHTTDL on August 9, 2024.

The festival originated from the Như Nguyệt Victory of Lý Thường Kiệt against the Tống invaders. Since then, every five years, on the 10th day of the third lunar month, the people of Mai Village hold a festival to commemorate the glorious victory of the talented general Lý Thường Kiệt.

Normally it lasts for three days with many religious activities and attractive folk games, becoming a traditional festival over the entire area of ​​residents living along the Cầu River banks.

Coming to the festival, visitors can witness the heroic echoes of their ancestors from thousands of years ago.

The past and the present seem to blend, adding to the patriotic tradition and martial spirit of the people on both sides of the Như Nguyệt River.

Up to now, the rowing festival still retains many unique features honouring those who have contributed through solemn rituals demonstrating the martial spirit of the people in Kinh Bắc region.

An overview of the Thắng Town in Hiệp Hoà District. — Photo courtesy of Bắc Giang Province

Speaking at the ceremony, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Bắc Giang Province People's Committee Mai Sơn emphasised that with impressive achievements in economic and social development, Hiệp Hoà District has reached the finish line one year ahead of schedule when meeting the criteria of a type-four urban area and the Tiếu Mai Village rowing festival was recognised as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

To effectively implement Resolution No 380-NQ/TW of the Bắc Giang Province Party Standing Committee on building and developing Hiệp Hoà District into a town by 2027, comrade Mai Sơn suggested the district to focus on preparing and successfully organising the Party Congresses at all levels for the 2025-30 term.

In particular, it is necessary to make the goal of building Hiệp Hoà into a town by 2027 a key content in the Congress Resolution with breakthrough solutions.

At the same time, it should spend resources on perfecting urban standards in a modern and synchronous direction.

The focus is on developing the healthcare system, green parks, civilised streets, central squares, conference and sports centres and urban environmental treatment infrastructure.

The district should also pay attention to construction planning management, speed up the progress of new urban area projects, social housing and workers' housing, ensuring sustainable and civilised urban development.

In addition, the district needs to preserve and promote the unique cultural values ​​of the locality, especially the Tiếu Mai Village rowing festival, the Như Nguyệt Victory relic and the Hiệp Hoà No 2 ATK relic system.

More care needs to be put into researching and developing projects to preserve cultural heritage, restore traditional festivals and promote the role of the community in preserving and promoting local cultural values.

In the future, Hiệp Hoà urban area will not only be a dynamic economic centre of the western Bắc Giang region but also an attractive destination, where traditional cultural values ​​and modern life intersect.

A green, smart, livable urban area, worthy of being one of the growth poles that actively contributes to the socio-economic development of the province, to the cause of industrialisation and modernisation of the homeland and the country, Sơn emphasised.

After the ceremony is the art programme "Hiệp Hoà – The Shining Epic", with three chapters: Returning to the Heritage Land; Hiệp Hoà Reaching the New Urban Level, and Hiệp Hoà Building and Shining. — VNS