Rituals and cultural practices of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands provinces will be depicted during activities held at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism, in Son Tay Town, Hanoi.

During the festival paying gratitude to the water god, the ethnic people clean the water source and present offerings to the god. (Photo courtesy of the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism)

A wide range of events will take place until the end of May with theme of ’Uncle Ho with the Central Highlands’.

The event doesn’t just highlight the uniqueness of the persified culture of the region, but it also reflects the strong bond between President Ho Chi Minh and those in the Central Highlands.

It is the framework of activities to celebrate President Ho’s birthday on May 19^th.

Eighty ethnic people from 11 groups live in the village, and 40 from people from the Gia Rai, Raglai, Cham and E De groups from the Central Highlands region will participate at the festival.

An exhibition of photos, newspaper stories and documents depicting the close relationship between Uncle Ho and indigenous communities in the Central Highlands will run between May 12^th-31^st.

Another exhibition, Lotus in Vietnamese Cultural Life, will take place on May 19^th-20^th. It introduces photos of lotus flowers - the national symbol of Vietnam, and cuisine made from the lotus such as tea, porridge and mut sen (sugar-coated lotus seeds).

Various traditional festivals of ethnic minorities such as the rice worshiping ritual of the E De people in Dak Lak Province, wedding ceremonies of the Raglai from Ninh Thuan Province, and the prayer for the water god of the Gia Rai people in Gia Lai Province will be reinacted in the village.

For the ethnic people, the water god (Yang Ia) is very important. During the festival they will be paying gratitude to Yang Ia, and will clean local water sources and present offerings to the god.

They believe the ritual will help them to have prosperous water resources and a healthy life.

In addition, performances of music, singing and dancing will take place at weekends during this month.

Tourists will have a chance to experience cooking traditional foods of the Central Highlands ethnic groups./.

VNF/VNS