Muong Dong Preserves and Promotes Ethnic Cultural Identity

Muong Dong is one of the four major Muong regions in the Hoa Binh area, where distinctive traditional cultural values gathered by generations are preserved and handed down through many ages. With a community comprising four ethnic groups — Muong, Dao, Kinh, and Thai — living together, in which the Muong ethnic group accounts for over 90% of the population, this land is not only rich in historical and cultural traditions, but also deeply imbued with ethnic colors. Clearly recognizing that value, the Party Committee and authorities of Muong Dong commune have deployed numerous practical solutions to preserve and promote cultural heritage, step-by-step turning traditional values into resources serving local socio-economic development.

Women of Muong Dong commune performing the traditional Flower Dance of the Muong ethnic group.

One of the sports and cultural activities leaving a distinct mark deeply imbued with ethnic identity in Muong Dong commune in 2026 was the women’s football tournament. This was the first locality in the province to organize an Ethnic Women’s Football Tournament in 2026. Participating in the tournament were 21 football teams coming from villages and the commune’s police women. Over two days (October 7–8), with high sportsmanship, solidarity, and determination, female athletes delivered fierce ball disputes, beautiful combination plays, and many exciting goals, attracting a large number of cadres and citizens to watch and cheer.

The special highlight of the tournament was the image of female athletes taking the field to compete in traditional costumes of local ethnic groups. Multi-colored ethnic skirts blending with the vibrant atmosphere on the field created a unique beauty—both healthy and dynamic while deeply rich in local cultural identity. The combination of modern sportsmanship and traditional costume beauty contributed to promoting local cultural identity and image to the broader public, thereby enhancing exchanges and solidarity among villages across the commune.

Earlier, aiming to preserve and promote ethnic sports, in April 2026, Muong Dong commune organized its 1st Physical Education and Sports Festival in 2026. The festival hosted competitions across 5 sports disciplines, among which 4 out of 5 were ethnic sports: crossbow shooting, tug-of-war, stick pushing, and shuttlecock throwing. Organizing competitions in ethnic sports not only boosts physical training movements among citizens, but also contributes to preserving and promoting ethnic sports values.

The crossbow shooting discipline at the 1st Muong Dong Commune Physical Education and Sports Festival attracted participation and cheering from a large number of local residents.

Activities to preserve and promote traditional ethnic cultural values are also extensively deployed across schools in Muong Dong commune. Models like the Ethnic Cultural Identity Preservation Club or the “Students Creating STEM Linked to Muong Ethnic Cultural Identity” Festival have created useful playgrounds, contributing to educating the younger generation about identity, pride, and love for their ethnic culture.

Mass organizations across the commune also actively deploy and replicate ethnic cultural preservation models. Comrade Bui Thi Thuy — Chairwoman of the Muong Dong Commune Women’s Union — shared: Village Women’s Union branches across the area have actively deployed and launched models such as “Preserving Dao Ethnic Cultural Identity” and “Preserving Muong Ethnic Cultural Identity”... These models were established with the goal of propagating and encouraging female members to actively preserve and promote beautiful traditional cultural aspects of their ethnic groups—such as costumes, spoken language, folk song melodies, fine customs, traditional costume tailoring and embroidery, alongside other distinct cultural values.

Through this, contributing to educating younger generations on national pride, building cultural life in residential areas, and driving community-based tourism development linked with cultural preservation. The Commune Women’s Union also encourages members to wear ethnic costumes when attending events and group performances, while selecting traditional ethnic dance and music items to perform.

Comrade Nguyen Dinh Chinh — Vice Chairman of the Muong Dong Commune People’s Committee — stated: Identifying culture as the spiritual foundation of society, preserving and promoting ethnic cultural identity is consistently prioritized by Muong Dong commune in tandem with emulation drives and local socio-cultural and economic development tasks. The campaign “All People Unite to Build Cultural Life in Residential Areas” is extensively deployed, drawing active response from cadres, Party members, and all strata of citizens.

Building cultural families, cultural residential areas, and implementing civilized lifestyles in weddings, funerals, and festivals are focused on, contributing to forming a healthy cultural environment in the community. Achieved results are clearly reflected through specific figures: The entire commune features 4,677 out of 5,624 households achieving the Cultural Family title (accounting for 83.2%); 100% of villages are recognized as reaching Cultural Residential Area standards. 100% of villages have cultural houses invested with equipment, fulfilling community activities, meetings, art exchanges, and physical education and sports needs. This serves not only as grassroots cultural infrastructure, but also as a vital space for citizens to meet, exchange, preserve, and spread the ethnic traditional values.

Duong Lieu