Preparations for the international gong festival are almost completed and the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai only waits for the opening ceremony, said Pham Xuan Vu, director of the Gia Lai provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

* Reinstate thousands of specific festivals

Mr. Vu said that first activities related to the festival will take place this week. The opening ceremony of the exhibition of photos on Gong Music in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, organized by The Vietnam Cultural and Art Institute and Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, will be held (took out) November 6th, 2009.

Nearly 90 photos have been chosen from the archives of the École française d’Extrême-Orient, Missions Étrangères de Paris and Quai Branly Museum. They were taken by French colonial officials, military officers, missionaries and scholars from 1930s to 1960s at Bana, Giarai, Mnong Gar villages.

Apart from gong related activities, several specific cultural festivals of ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands will be reinstated and performed during the event.

Other activities such as sculpturing statues in tomb houses, an exhibition on the space of gong culture, a seminar to promote investment in Gia Lai province, a tourism seminar, a fair on Vietnamese high quality goods, and a festival of gastronomy culture will be held.

* Gia Lai province is willing for the festival

The festival is expected to draw 30,000 visitors to Gia Lai province. 3000 volunteers, including artists, artisans, people from armed forces and students, will take part in the festival as well.

Tourist companies will hold new tours and prepare packages for tourists. Handicrafts are available as well to provide more choice for tourists.

Gia Lai province has kept more than 5000 sets of gongs. The reinstatement of festivals associated with gongs will help preserve the cultural space of gongs and popularize cultural and musical values of gong in the Central Highlands as well as promote local tourism.

Source: CPV