Let the community decide

In recent days, public opinion has not stopped discussing whether or not to ban the buffalo fighting festival. The reason is that when organizing the festival, some incidents occurred, creating bad public opinion in society; deviating from the traditional meaning...

Besides the negative opinions, many people suggested that the festival should still be kept but there must be control measures to avoid violence, commercialism and distortion; at the same time, they emphasized the management role of the state.

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Thi Thu Hien - Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) when sharing with the press, said that within the legal framework, it is not appropriate to ban a traditional festival just because of accompanying phenomena. And handling issues related to traditional festivals is a long-term process of raising awareness, communication quality and mobilizing the masses.

The Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage also emphasized that we should not ban a festival just because of the accompanying phenomena; and the community is the one who decides the existence of the heritage. Agreeing with this point of view, Dr. Tran Huu Son, Director of the Institute of Applied Folk Culture Research, also affirmed: The Do Son buffalo fighting festival (Hai Phong) or the buffalo fighting festival in Hai Luu ( Vinh Phuc ) has existed since ancient times. These are unique festivals of the residents of the Northern Delta, practiced in some localities to serve the cultural and spiritual needs of the people. Therefore, according to Mr. Son, we should not raise the issue of whether to abolish it or not, but need to find solutions to maintain, preserve and promote the value of the festival.

There may be some incidents of violence, commercialism, and distortion during the organization of some festivals, but any festival can have situations. The responsibility here lies with the Organizing Committee, the management agency, and the local government, especially in the work of mobilizing and promoting. How can festival management and festival participants truly understand the value and meaning of the festival, thereby adjusting their behavior and having cultural conduct when participating in the festival?

Compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam is a country with many traditional festivals. Each festival has its own beauty, including festivals such as Buffalo Fighting that have been taking place for thousands of years, demonstrating the vitality and sustainable existence in the community. Therefore, instead of discussing whether to ban it or not, we should find the most effective solution, to both promote the historical and cultural values, the beauty distilled from thousands of years of traditional festivals, and to gradually adjust and replace elements if they are found to be inappropriate....

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/hay-de-cong-dong-quyet-dinh-10300828.html