(VOVWORLD) - The Southeast Asia Gong Festival 2025, hosted by Lam Dong province, will officially open on Thursday and run through January 2. The festival marks the 20th anniversary of UNESCO’s recognition of the Space of Gong Culture in Vietnam’s Central Highlands as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
 Rehearsal of the artistic program in preparation for the 2025 Southeast Asian Gong Festival. (Photo: baolamdong.vn) |
The highlight will be a show called “Southeast Asia Gong Harmony” on Saturday night at Lam Vien Square in Da Lat, which will blend traditional gong music with contemporary music. Troupes from Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Quang Ngai, Phu Tho, and Lam Dong and five international troupes from Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand– more than 200 performers in all – will take part.
Le Minh Son, the program’s artistic adviser and general director, said: “This show will be interactive between performers and audience, a feast concocted from the stirring sound of gongs resonating with thousands of spectators. This will be a remarkable festival for Da Lat and for the international community.”
 Le Minh Son, artistic advisor and chief director of the program. (Photo: baolamdong.vn) |
During the festival, Lam Dong province is expected to set two records – the largest space for a gong performance and the performance with the largest number of gong performers. Other activities will include a brocade fashion show, the Global Coffee Heritage Festival, an international coffee conference, two events called “Coffee Carriage – Heritage Journey” and “Global Coffee Heritage Road,” and a music concert to welcome the New Year 2026. The province will also host the first-ever Festival of Gong Clubs.
The Southeast Asia Gong Festival 2025 honors the cultural heritage of Vietnam, particularly the Space of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands, and showcases the region’s tourism potential, especially of the areas inhabited by ethnic communities.