Then practice to receive UNESCO certificate of enrollment

The northern mountainous Tuyen Quang provincial People's Committee has issued a plan for a ceremony to receive UNESCO's registration certificate for "The Then practice of the Tay, Nung and Thai people in Vietnam" and Tuyen Quang City Festival 2020.


Tuyen Quang Festival 2019 (Source: Tuyen Quang Newspaper)

On December 12th, 2019, the Then practice heritage of the Tay, Nung and Thai ethnic minority people in Vietnam was officially registered by UNESCO in the List of Representative Intangible Cultural Heritages of humanity. This heritage belongs to the Tay, Nung and Thai ethnic minorities of 11 mountainous provinces in northern Vietnam.

The event aims to affirm the rich cultural identity of the Vietnamese ethnic community in general, and the Tay, Nung and Thai ethnic groups in particular; disseminate the value of the heritage and the meaning of UNESCO's recognition; and promote the heritage in association with local tourism.

Then is an essential ritual practice in the spiritual life of the Tay, Nung and Thai ethnic groups in the north of Vietnam. It is like the song of a fairy. Its spiritual value is beyond the scope of a region, a province or a nation, and has become a representative intangible heritage of humanity, as the conclusion of experts from UNESCO.

According to the Tay people, the word Then means "Heaven". Then singing is a type of folk music, which tells of the journey to heaven and asks Then to give good luck and a good life. So the Then of Tay people reflects the story of life, village, love, funeral and marriage. A Then singing performance is an attractive artistic performance, taking people into the world and cultural identity of the Tay people.

Tuyen Quang City Festival aims to promote the image of land, people and cultural heritage of the city, especially specific values in history and culture in the revolutionary homeland and build the festival into a provincial special tourism product.

The ceremony to receive UNESCO's registration certificate will be held on the occasion of Tuyen Quang City Festival 2020 with the participation of 11 provinces from September 25th to 26th./.