Muong Thang Preserves Culture Linked to Tourism Development

Not only meeting the spiritual cultural needs of the people, the work of preserving and promoting ethnic cultural identity in Muong Thang Commune receives special attention from the local Party committee and authorities, step-by-step becoming a driving force for economic and tourism development.

The commune Party committee and government maintain the annual organization of the Muong Thang Season Opening Festival, contributing to cultural preservation linked to tourism development.

As a land with a rich history and cultural depth, Muong Thang is one of four famous Muong regions. Over many generations, the local Muong community has formed, preserved, and passed down numerous unique cultural values, contributing to creating a distinct mark in the “Hoa Binh Culture.”

Following the administrative unit rearrangement, Muong Thang Commune has a population scale of nearly 20,000 people, over 88% of whom are ethnic Muong. Traditional values linked to daily life, such as Mo Muong, stilt houses, spoken language, traditional attire, folk rituals, beliefs, and folk cultural practices, are still preserved and handed down through generations.

Alongside this, the locality focuses on awakening and leveraging traditional cultural values, combining identity preservation with new rural construction, economic development, and improving people’s lives.

The Muong community in Muong Thang Commune still retains many cultural traits in daily life.

After being restored in 2018, the Muong Thang Season Opening Festival has been maintained annually to honor deities, commemorate founders of the land and village, pray for favorable weather and bountiful harvests, while creating a space for community bonding and preserving cultural identity.

Besides solemn rituals such as the offering ceremony for the Three Deities of Tan Vien Mount at Ca Shrine, the tomb thanksgiving ceremony for the Le Dynasty Princess, and the palanquin procession of the Guardian God to the festival, the festival portion features many unique activities such as Thuong rang - Bo meng singing competitions, Muong gong performances, ethnic sports tournaments, folk games, and Muong traditional costume showcases...

Folk games and ethnic sports organized during the Season Opening Festival contribute to creating an atmosphere of solidarity and emulation for socio-economic development.

According to Comrade Bui Duc Chung, Head of the Culture and Social Affairs Office of Muong Thang Commune, the locality possesses a system of historical, cultural, and spiritual relics alongside a rich treasure of intangible cultural heritage. Prominent among them is the Vo Vua (King’s Well) relic associated with the legend of Me Da Hoang Ba, the second wife of Saint Tan Vien Son. Located on Vo Vua Hill in Khanh Hamlet, the relic site also features pristine forest landscapes and terraced fields.

Nearby is the Khanh Pagoda relic — an ancient pagoda along the cultural-spiritual tourism route that serves as a long-standing place of religious activity for local Muong people.

In the central area of the commune, ancient Muong villages in Dung Phong and An Phong still retain relatively intact traditional living spaces of the Muong Thang people.

At the 1st Congress of the Party Committee of Muong Thang Commune, “Preserving, conserving, and promoting ethnic cultural identity” was identified as one of the key tasks in the Action Program for the 2025–2030 term. This is an important orientation to effectively exploit cultural potential and strengths, creating momentum to drive sustainable economic growth.

To conserve and promote cultural values, the commune implements synchronized solutions, prioritizing investment in and restoration of historical and cultural relic complexes, creating community gathering spaces, and attracting visitors.

Along with that, the locality links cultural preservation with tourism development through the national target program for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; stepping up research, restoration, and promotion of tangible and intangible cultural values, especially Mo Muong heritage, Muong gong performance art, and ethnic cuisine.

The commune Party committee and government determine that maintaining large-scale festivals like the Muong Thang Season Opening Festival and Khanh Pagoda Festival not only promotes the image of the homeland but also opens up opportunities to attract investment resources for tourism development. Through festival activities, local residents gain further opportunities to raise their income, contributing to encouraging economic structural shifts in rural areas, effectively exploiting cultural and tourism potential, and building a new countryside rich in identity on the land of Muong Thang.

Bui Minh