The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism approved the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai’s request to invite Deputy Minister Le Tien Tho to be the general director of the first-ever international gong festival 2009 in Gia Lai.

Accordingly, People’s Artist Tien Tho will design the script and arrange the event independently. Previously, respected director Le Quy Duong refused to take this responsibility because he couldn’t reach an agreement with local authorities on some items.

The festival will be held in Pleiku city, Gia Lai province from 8-11 November to celebrate the Central Highlands’ gong culture, which was recognised by UNESCO as a unique part of the world’s heritage in December, 2005.

Gong troupes from Vietnam, including several ethnic groups will take part, together with performers from regional countries such as Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia. Gong music is a deeply rooted part of culture in most East and South-East Asian countries.

The opening ceremony will involve about 3,000 performers in Pleiku’s Revolutionary Square. The performance will tell a story about the history of the province and its ancient gong culture.

During the festival, many activities, including religious ceremonies accompanied by gong orchestras, contests, seminars and exhibitions will be held.

Artists and people from provincial ethnic groups, including the Jrai, Ybrom, and Bana will take part in rain worship and new year ceremonies. The performances will be held in the city’s parks and tourism areas.

Seminars on preserving gong music and developing tourism will be directed at business people.

Two exhibitions will display photos, artefacts and bonsai from Central Highlands ethnic groups.

Gia Lai and other Central Highlands provinces plan to conduct gong-playing classes for young ethnic people and encourage the old to teach them.

Vietnam gongs consist of two main types, cong and chieng. Cong has a knob in the middle, while chieng has none. Cong makes deep bass sounds, but melodies have to be coaxed out of chieng.

VietNamNet/To Quoc