Preserving and promoting the heritage of folk songs of Lang Son

Lang Son is a land of convergence of unique cultural values of ethnic groups such as Tay, Nung, Kinh, Dao, Hoa, Mong, San Chay… Prominent in the treasure of cultural heritage are the folk songs of the ethnic groups. Over the years, all levels and sectors of the province have been implementing many practical solutions to preserve and promote the value of the folk song heritage of Lang Son.

Every Sunday, the members of the Folk Singing Club in Hung Dao Commune, Binh Gia District come together to practice and practice new tunes and songs. Good performances will be selected to perform in the communes. Mrs. Hoang Thi Ve, Club President said: The club was established in 2017 with 21 people. At the beginning, the members did not know how to play or sing. With the support and encouragement of the Party Committee, local authorities and strong love for folk songs, each member strives to overcome difficulties. Up to now, all members of the club are proficient in the lute, sing folk songs and attract more members. Currently, the club has increased to 28 people, of which the youngest member is only 15 years old.

Members of the Folk Song Club in Doi Che village, Hoang Dong commune performed at the opening ceremony of the folk music teaching class

 Not only the guitar and folk singing clubs in Hung Dao commune, in recent years, the music clubs and folk songs in Binh Gia district have developed strongly in both quantity and quality. Up to now, the whole district has established 14 clubs in 9 communes and towns with nearly 200 members (an increase of 3 clubs compared to 2020).

Along with Binh Gia district, over the past time, folk songs movement in districts and city has developed in both quantity and quality. From 2020 to now, in the province, there have been more than 20 folk music clubs established, bringing the total number of folk clubs in the province to nearly 60 clubs with more than 1,200 members, including some typical clubs such as Cao Lan Sinh Ca Club (Thien Tan Commune, Huu Lung District); Club for Conservation of Black Mong ethnic culture (Cao Minh commune, Trang Dinh district); Club of folk cultural activities of Tay ethnic group in Na Cai village (Tan Lap commune, Bac Son district)… Especially, in 2022, the whole province has 23 schools at 3 levels of education that have been organizing teaching and establishing folk singing clubs, attracting over 400 students to study, an increase of 60% compared to 2018. Among them are: Huu Lung with 5 clubs, Trang Dinh with 4 clubs, Cao Loc with 3 clubs, Van Quan with 2 clubs…

The above results have been achieved through the efforts of all levels and sectors, and the active participation of localities in preserving the value of traditional folk songs of the ethnic groups. Mr. Phan Van Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said: Over the years, in order to preserve and promote the value of folk songs, folk dances and folk music, the sector has carried out many activities such as collecting and recording folk songs performed by elderly artists. At the same time, the sector organized activities to honor and reward artisans, established folk songs clubs, opened folk music teaching classes… In particular, the department advised the Provincial People’s Committee to issue Plan No. 42/KH-UBND dated February 22, 2022 to implement Decision 3404/QD-BVHTTDL dated December 22, 2021 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism approving the Project “Preserving and promoting the values of folk songs, folk dances and folk music of ethnic minorities in association with tourism development in the 2021-2030 period”.

From 2020 to now, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in collaboration with the education and training sector, the Provincial Folklore Conservation Association has encouraged the establishment of folk singing clubs in districts and city and opened more than 50 classes of teaching folk singing and attracted thousands of students. Typically, a number of schools in the districts: Van Quan, Binh Gia, Cao Loc … have introduced folk songs teaching activities into the content of extracurricular activities in the school. From here, it attracted many students to join clubs such as Hoa Hoi Club (Van Quan) with 78 students; Diep Sli Then (Cao Loc) with 13 children…

Along with teaching, the Culture, Sports and Tourism sector also cooperates with related units to create a healthy cultural space for folk music performance such as festivals, contests, performances, conferences, fairs and especially big festivals such as Ky Cung – Ta Phu, Bong Kham, Slao Newspaper, Hang Pinh, Culture – Tourism Week, Culture, Sports and Tourism Festival, events commemorating important national holidays and other cultural events. From 2020 to now, on average each year, all levels and sectors organized nearly 100 professional art performances, 10 mass cultural and art programs; 2 festivals, performances, cultural festivals at provincial level; 3 festivals, contests, and cultural festivals organized by central and regional levels.

Along with that, activities of editing, adjusting and enhancing folk songs and folk dances are being interested and promoted. From 2020 up to now, on average each year, the Association for the Conservation of Folklore has improved 40 works of song, dance music and folk songs and dances; staged over 6 art programs/year with different themes; recorded, broadcasted, released DVDs of 3 folk dance performances, published 2 books on folk songs…

With the initiative and positivity of the Culture, Sports and Tourism sector, the attention of all levels, sectors and the joint efforts of the people, it is believe that the folk songs of the ethnic minorities in Lang Son will spread more and more, contributing to preserving the source and promoting the unique cultural features of the Lang Son.