The Gong Culture Festival 2012 will take place on April 21st at Don Duong District, Lam Dong Province.

The festival will draw the participation of 12 delegations with over 300 veteran gong artists from ethnic groups in the region.

Mr. Nguyen Vu Hoang, director of Lam Dong province cultural centre, the vice organizer of the event, said, “The 12 artisan delegations this year fully represent the two major ethnic groups who speak Mon-Khmer and Ma languages in Lam Dong.”

Gong cultures include two main types of the instruments, cong and chieng. Cong gongs have a knob in the middle and deliver a deep bass sound, while the chieng gong is more melodious.

The 6th Gong Culture Festival consists of three main types of gong cultures: Ma, K’ho and Churu. The festival is aimed at promoting the UNESCO recognised Central Highlands gong culture of the area’s ethnic minority people.

This is also the first time the Lam Dong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will award the title “artisan” for gong players in Lam Dong province. At the same time, the chieng competition will be held between teams and, if it is successful, it will be maintained and developed in coming festivals.