After three days (November 23-25), the 2^nd Dak Lak Gong Culture Festival of 2022 ended at the Provincial Cultural Center.

The Organizing Committee awarding prizes to the teams participating in the Festival

The festival was organized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province with the participation of 439 artisans from 15 delegations of districts, towns and cities in the province.

The festival has 65 performances with diverse genres such as performances of bronze gongs, bamboo gongs, solo T'rung, trumpet, flute, reciprocal singing, instrumental ensemble, folk singing, folk dance, etc.

Along with that, traditional rituals such as the engagement ceremony, the twinning ceremony, the worshiping ceremony, the celebration of new crop are also vividly recreated at the festival.

The festival has 65 performances in diverse genres

On the closing night, the Organizing Committee awarded one first prize, two second prizes and two third prizes to the participants with high achievements; along with that are 5 A-prizes, 10 B-prizes, 12 C-prizes for the best performances. Krong Nang district's artisans won the first prize.

According to Meritorious Artist Vu Lan, former Head of the Ethnic Dance Troupe of Dak Lak, Chairman of the Appraisal Council at the 2^nd Dak Lak Gong Culture Festival, the units participating in the festival have had attentive and elaborate preparation.

The impressive thing in the festival is the presence of elderly artisans, including Ede Bih female artisans from Krong Ana district, the artisan group from Krong Bong district with 9 gongs and many sets of ancient gongs.

In addition, there were many delicate traditional folk musical instrument performances.

In particular, during the Festival, for the first time, the performance of folk rituals associated with the gong culture was reproduced, attracting a lot of attention.

Some rituals were thoughtfully reproduced, keeping small details in accordance with the traditional customs and habits such as the marriage ceremony depictions of the artisans of Buon Ma Thuot city, the Brotherhood Ceremony brought about by the Krong Nang artisans and the New Rice Celebration of the Cu M'Gar artisans.

Also according to Meritorious Artist Vu Lan, some units still made mistakes when naming musical instruments or folk rituals, confusing folk dances with popular arts.

However, with careful preparation and efforts, the Festival took place successfully, leaving deep impressions on the participants, visitors and audiences.

From 2022, the Gong Culture Festival of Dak Lak is expected to be held annually.

Especially in March 2023, the People's Committee of Dak Lak province will organize the Ethnic Culture Festival in association with the 8^th Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival. This will be an important event contributing to the conservation and promotion of traditional folklore values, including the gong culture.

Therefore, artisan groups of 15 districts, towns and cities in the province need to practice and plan to participate in the festival to win the best results.