The Vietnamese Ethnic Groups Culture and Tourism Village

Held at the Vietnamese Ethnic Groups Culture and Tourism Village in Dong Mo tourist area, 40km from Hanoi, the 9-day festival has stunned visitors by displaying Chinese goods next to the traditional products and handicrafts of the ethnic minority groups.

Opened on April 19, the Vietnam Ethnic Groups Cultural Festival  promises to be a good chance to promote the cultures of 13 ethnic groups from eight cities and provinces in the north, centre and south of Vietnam. Yet, many of the event’s shortcomings have greatly disappointed the visitors.

Held at the Vietnamese Ethnic Groups Culture and Tourism Village in Dong Mo tourist area, 40km from Hanoi, the 9-day festival has stunned visitors by displaying Chinese goods next to the traditional products and handicrafts of the ethnic minority groups.

Moreover, many televisions and speakers at the venue blasting out infomercials about the minority communities only detract from already weak ethnic ambience of the festival.

Most disappointingly, the performance of ethnic music falls far short of the visitors’ expectations. Instead of performing traditional music instruments to liven up the festival and draw visitors, local artists only performed for a camera crew. After staffs of a local television station finished their filming, the artists stopped playing the music even though many visitors asked them to continue.

In addition, the choice of venue is also a disappointment to the visitors. Established in 2010, the Ethnic Groups Culture and Tourism Village has but a few constructions to showcase the ethnic minorities’ cultures, besides some bamboo houses which have been damaged due to termites.

The village’s managing board said that the houses were built on the same design and materials of ethnic people’s houses, and they were “planning to repair the houses with more durable materials.”