Hanoi currently has about 1,206 festivals of various sizes, taking place in the spring. Also, festivals of regional sizes such as Go Dong Da Festival, Giong Festival (UNESCO recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2010), Co Loa Temple Festival, Hai Ba Trung Temple Festival, Huong Pagoda Festival, Thay Pagoda Festival associated with the legend of Zen master Tu Dao Hanh, Tay Phuong Pagoda Festival, Duc Thanh Tan Festival, etc. Many festivals have restored valuable ancient customs and beliefs with profound cultural values … Especially, the Huong Pagoda Festival lasts for 3 months, attracting tens of thousands of tourists.
Overview of the Conference.
According to the report at the Conference, in 2019, the festivities took place playfully and healthily, ensuring the proper regulations and plans. Many traditional forms of art, games, and performances that are rich in art and folklore are considered to be included in the festival such as Quan ho singing, cheo singing, wrestling, swinging, cooking rice, and Lion dance, tug of war, etc. The organization of annual festivals in localities is directed by the Department of Culture and Sports in combination with the reception of the titles of cultural villages, trade village titles, cultural and historical relics titles… enriching activities of the festivals, contributing to creating a healthy cultural environment, encouraging people to preserve and promote the values of cultural titles and traditional trade villages titles, values of cultural heritage recognized and ranked by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the City People’s Committee, actively contributing to raising the level of enjoying the cultural and spiritual life in the community. Since then, it has created positive effects in community solidarity, the movement to perform a civilized lifestyle in weddings, funerals, eliminating superstition, backward customs, preserving and promoting the traditional beauty of the nation.
Also, the Department has collaborated with the Ministries and Departments to check the work of monuments protection and festival management organization at major beauty spots. Thereby, timely correcting the shortcomings and existing issues for localities to overcome, as well as making recommendations to the competent authorities to direct the rectification. Specifically, some festivals have been inspected such as Phu Tay Ho (Tay Ho), Soc Temple (Soc Son), Co Loa Temple (Dong Anh), Hai Ba Trung Temple (Me Linh) and Huong Pagoda (My Duc), etc.
Remarkably, the hotline phone number has worked well. During the year, many reflections at festivals have been received and handled. Typically, the collection of tickets which is higher than the regulations in Bia Ba (Ha Dong), Tran Quoc Pagoda (Tay Ho); the restaurant encroached, causing a loss of beauty, affecting traffic at Huong Pagoda (My Duc), Dau Pagoda (Thuong Tin); The loud sound during the festival in Go Dong Da (Dong Da), etc. All the reflected content has been actively exchanged with the Department of Culture and Sports to promptly discuss with the localities.
Particularly for modern festivals, events to celebrate holidays and anniversaries of domestic and foreign organizations, agencies and units, basically implement the regulations on organization and management of the festivals. Many events and festivals have been successfully organized, highly appreciated by the public such as Cherry Blossom Festival; Dragon Boat brushing festival; Hanoi Food Festival; Festival of agricultural products, traditional trade villages in Hanoi; Festival of provinces and cities in Hanoi, etc.
In addition to the achieved results, the organization and management of festivals in the area still have shortcomings that need to be overcome. In some festivals, there still exist goods services, shops selling intertwined in the relics causing loss of beauty and traffic congestion. The work of environmental sanitation is not guaranteed, many festivals do not have a thorough plan to limit the unsanitary environment such as not having enough trash and waste bins; lack of public toilets to serve tourists; A large part of the people participating in the festival lacks awareness so the hygiene and environment are not good. Food hygiene and safety issues in many festivals have not been given adequate attention. There is also the phenomenon of scrambling for passengers, riding motorbikes to stop cars from transporting passengers in violation of the Road Traffic Law; change getting; the phenomenon of self-raising service prices, keeping cars and motorbikes high compared to the existing regulations. Most of the festivals with small scale, taking place within the village, the festival content is monotonous, poor. The situation of arbitrarily dressed, offensive culture lacking when going to the festival, the phenomenon of littering indiscriminately causing unsanitary environment still exists in some festivals. Some individuals took advantage of the festival when crowded to sell incense, horoscopes, Khanh cards, writing cards, reading fortune-telling, soliciting guests, and salesmen encroaching on the road, causing disturbance to tourists. The burning of the votive, burning incense much, placing Giot Dau money, not at the prescribed place, sanitation is not guaranteed … affecting the beauty of the festival and monuments.
2020 is defined as the year with many major events taking place. The localities are in the main festival season, large organization scale, rich forms with full of rituals of the Festival. Therefore, the implementation of state management is determined by the sector as a key task. According to Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports Bui Thi Thu Hien, the monuments management boards, the festival organizers, enhance coordination and improve the sense of responsibility; promptly settle and rectify arising and existing events occurring in festivals in localities such as: soliciting customers, stealthily exchanging change money, burning lots of votive papers, begging, praying for hire; shops occupy the way to the relics; raising prices to keep vehicles; arranging forces to promptly collect pre-orders and incense money; have appropriate plans to ensure traffic safety, fire safety and environmental sanitation in the festive season. In particular, do not put artefacts without rating records on the monument.
The leader of the Department of Culture and Sports also said that in the coming time, there will be inspection teams of the Department, the Ministry and the city inter-branch directly inspect at the festivals, especially big festivals such as Huong Pagoda, Soc Temple, Va Temple and Hai Ba Trung Temple, etc.
Dong Hoang