Hanoi (VNS/VNA)- A festival to honour and promote the cultural identity of the Muongethnic minority group will be held in the central province of Thanh Hoa onDecember 10-12.

Held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in coordinationwith the Thanh Hoa provincial People's Committee, the festival will gatherhundreds of artisans, artists and athletes from six provinces and citiesnationwide namely Thanh Hoa, Hanoi, Hoa Binh, Son La, Phu Tho and Binh Phuoc.

There will also be performances of an art troupe from Laos's Houaphanh province.

The second Muong Ethnic Culture Festival will feature manyactivities that showcase the cultural features of the Muong like ademonstration of weaving traditional clothes and handicraft products,performances of gongs, introductions to rituals and a photo exhibition.

During the event, a farm trip to survey Thanh Hoa’s communitytourism and ecotourism will be organised, in addition to the tourismpromotion stalls in the festival area.

The second Muong Ethnic Culture Festival is also anopportunity to promote and introduce the Muong culture to a large number ofpeople and tourists, which will help to develop community tourism andsupport the preservation and development of ethnic cultures nationwide.

The first Muong Ethnic Culture Festival was held in thenorthern province of Hoa Bình in 2007.

The Muong ethnic group currently has a population of morethan 1 million, residing mainly in the northern and northern central provinces,particularly in Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces.

The ethnic community maintains a rich folk culturaltreasures, including epics, old tales and folk songs. /.