For a safe and civilized festival season
The festival season is approaching. This is not only an opportunity for localities in Long An province to promote their image and attract tourists, but also requires strict preparation and management to ensure the festival takes place joyfully, safely and healthily. Besides the joy of participating in traditional cultural activities, ensuring safety and civilization in festivals is always an issue of special concern to authorities and people.
Timely instructions from the authority
Traditional festivals help preserve good traditional cultural features, contribute to promoting the image, attracting tourism, requiring very strict preparation and management to ensure the festival takes place joyfully, safely and healthily (Photo: Lam Chay Festival in Tam Vu town, Chau Thanh district)
Most traditional festivals are concentrated right after Tet, making the Tet atmosphere seem to be extended in people's minds.
In the 1st lunar month, Long An province has many big festivals, attracting a large number of tourists from near and far: Lam Chay Festival (Tam Vu town, Chau Thanh district), Ngu Hanh Lady Festival (Long Thuong commune, Can Giuoc district), Full Moon Festival at Floating Pagoda (Tuyen Binh commune, Vinh Hung district), Ky Yen festival at Vinh Phong communal house (Thu Thua town, Thu Thua district), etc.
Each festival attracts from thousands to hundreds of thousands of people inside and outside the province.
This poses a great challenge in ensuring security, order, traffic safety, food hygiene as well as preserving traditional cultural identity, avoiding distortion and superstition during festivals.
Up to now, festivals held in the province, especially those recognized as National Intangible Cultural Heritage, have ensured the preservation of good traditional cultural features, safety and joy.
Despite the participation of a large number of people, the festivals in the province do not have any jostling, pushing, fighting for blessings or superstition.
Traditional worship rituals are preserved, festival activities attract many participants with a joyful and healthy atmosphere.
Police, militia, military, neighborhood watch, volunteers, etc are always on duty to protect the Lam Chay Festival (Tam Vu town, Chau Thanh district) (photo: Tran Thoa)
These tasks require unity, consensus, and efforts from all levels of government and people. Right before Tet, the strengthening of festival management and organization has been focused on by the Provincial People's Committee.
Accordingly, the Provincial People's Committee requested districts, towns, cities, departments and branches to focus on propaganda and mobilization to raise awareness and responsibility of all levels, branches, people and tourists in strictly implementing the State's regulations on organizing festivals, the origin of festivals, relics and characters worshiped and honored as well as propagating the value and true meaning of traditional beliefs and rituals, limiting the burning of votive paper to ensure fire and explosion prevention and control, saving and protecting the environment, etc.
The work of inspection, timely prevention and strict handling of violations, especially acts of taking advantage of relics, festivals, beliefs for profit, superstitious activities, gambling also needs to be strengthened, especially at festivals recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage such as the Lam Chay Festival, the Ngu Hanh Lady Festival.
Proactive, unanimous action from the grassroots
As the Lam Chay Festival is coming, people in Chau Thanh have begun to prepare for the festival. The People's Committee of Chau Thanh district, Tam Vu town, the Management Board of Tan Xuan communal house and related departments have had many meetings to unify the festival organization plan.
Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Chau Thanh district - Pham Van That said, the Lam Chay Festival is organized to honor and commemorate heroes in the cause of defending the country and protecting national independence, specifically the two patriots Do Tuong Phong and Do Tuong Tu.
At the same time, the festival also helps maintain and serve the religious needs of people and tourists. This is also an opportunity to promote historical relics and cultural heritages in the locality to people and tourists near and far, contributing to raising the awareness and responsibility of cadres and people in preserving and promoting the value of national cultural heritage.
Traditional festivals are places to preserve good traditional cultural features (Photo: Lam Chay Festival in Tam Vu town, Chau Thanh district)
“The important requirements of the festival are that the rituals are performed according to traditional rituals, organized economically, solemnly, safely, joyfully, and healthily, ensuring security, order, safe and smooth traffic, environmental sanitation, food safety and hygiene, disease prevention, fire prevention in the relic area; preventing and promptly handling cases of superstitiom, etc.” - Mr. Pham Van That affirmed.
The Lam Chay Festival (Tam Vu town, Chau Thanh district) annually attracts hundreds of thousands of people and tourists
Right before and after Tet, propaganda work is given special attention. Propaganda content is increased in duration on the district radio station. Associations and unions strengthen propaganda to each branch and group through regular meetings and activities.
“Before Tet, in women's group meetings, we were reminded about complying with the law on traffic safety, fire prevention, raising vigilance, preventing and combating all kinds of crimes and social evils in daily life, especially during Tet and the upcoming Lam Chay Festival. We all hope to have a happy and safe festival season to start the new year smoothly” - Ms. Tran Thi Dep (Hamlet 7, Phuoc Tan Hung Commune) said.
Festivals taking place in the province help preserve the good, safe and joyful traditional cultural features (Photo: Ngu Hanh Lady Festival, Long Thuong Commune, Can Giuoc District) (photo: Huynh Huong)
In the minds of local people, the traditional festival at the beginning of the year has become an indispensable part of their spiritual life. Therefore, everyone is self-conscious about joining hands to organize and preserve the beauty of the festival.
According to Nguyen Van Cong, the Chairman of Ngu Hanh Lady Temple Association, the annual festival is successfully organized thanks to the cooperation of the local people and authorities.
“The local people have come together early to clean up and prepare for the festival. Everyone is proud of their hometown festival, so the services that follow the festival are also civilized and prevent the rip off situation. For many years, although the festival has attracted tens of thousands of attendees, security, order, and food hygiene and safety have been quite good. During the festival, within a radius of about 50m around the temple area, it is very stable and secure,” Mr. Cong added.
The festival is an opportunity for each person to remember their roots, preserve the local traditions and good culture. If every local resident and tourist is aware of maintaining order, environmental sanitation and protecting cultural heritages during the festival, it will create a joyful, safe and healthy festival.
With the cooperation of all levels of government and people, the province is expected to have a festival season that is both imbued with national cultural identity and ensures safety and civilization./.
By Que Lam - Translated by Q. Thien
Source: https://baolongan.vn/de-mua-le-hoi-dien-ra-an-toan-van-minh-a189964.html
