(VOVworld) – Vietnam is home to a variety of festivals that promote Vietnamese cultural identity and tradition.

The Minh The festival in Hai Phong (Photo: My Tra)

The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism says Vietnam has a total of 8,000 festivals, including 7,000 folk festivals, 330 historical and revolutionary festivals, 540 religious festivals, and 10 foreign festivals. Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien said:“We organize festivals to attract tourists. Traditional Vietnamese culture should be preserved and promoted despite Vietnam’s international integration. Culture should evolve and progress, not simply be associated with the past.”

The Lim festival (Photo: My Tra)

A festival attracts crowds of people, who come to enjoy art performances, folk games, and sports. Their participation helps to promote the festival. Dr. Dang Van Bai, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association, said:“A festival teaches traditional ethics. Heritage education should become a national program in which our predecessors’ exemplary roles are introduced to every individual, helping to prevent moral degradation and ignorance of national identity during international integration process.”

A Cheo festival in the communal house (Photo: My Tra)

Festivals reflect the people’s life and aspirations and provide cultural enjoyment to the people. Pham Thi Lan Anh, Head of the Heritage Management Division of Hanoi’s Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said:“We need to boost information dissemination through mass media to attract an increasing number of people to festivals and teach them to behave properly. When the public realize the beauty and other good things of festival, they contribute to preserving and developing the festival’s essences.”

Vietnam has 54 ethnic groups and each group has its distinctive customs and culture. A festival, which is handed down from one generation to the next, is an important way to promote tourism and cultural tradition.