Gambling, fortune-telling and rubbish ruin festivals

      A Gambling, fortune telling and commercialism are ruining northern Viet Nam’s cultural and religious festivals, complains Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Hoang Tuan Anh.
The minister delivered his judgment at a meeting to assess the quality of the festivals in Ha Noi last Wednesday where he said his ministry intended to provide models for their organization and management.
Ministry officials would classify the festivals to provide a basis for the models, he said.
The ministry’s chief inspector, Vu Xuan Thanh, told the meeting that the latest checks of festivals showed that documents sent to localities setting guidelines for the festivals had been ignored.
Overcrowded and often disorderly festivals were popular at many pagodas, he said.
These included the historical Dong Pagoda in Thai Binh Province, the Yen Tu Pagoda in Quang Ninh Province, and Ha Noi’s Huong Pagoda.
Gambling, fortune telling and pick pocketing was also rife at Nam Dinh Province’s Vieng Market and Binh Duong Province’s Ba Pagoda.
The pagodas and historic sites were littered with rubbish and some scenic spots were partially destroyed.
The chief inspector said hundreds of violators had been fined a total of VND286 million and more than 40,000 pirated porn discs and unacceptable cultural products confiscated.
Stopping cheats
"But it hasn’t been enough to create order and stop the cheats at the festivals," he said.
Duong Thanh Lan, 60, of Ha Noi echoed the minister and inspector’s views.
"I like taking part in traditional festivals in pagodas and temples that have not been commercialized," she said. "But I have been the victim of cheats and pickpockets and know have to be vigilant in these places. It makes me uncomfortable."
Festival traditions and features were very different from the past, she said.
Bac Ninh Province’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Department director Nguyen Dang Tuc told the meeting specific regulations and punishments were needed to restore order at the festivals.
Interim guidance documents were not enough to stop the illegal activities.
The ministry’s Culture and Information Department Nguyen Dao Toan said the responsibility of each agency in overseeing the festivals was necessary.
Otherwise, the blame was always shifted from one to the other.
Hai Duong City Culture, Sports and Tourism Department director Dang Viet Cuong said municipal officials would now make specific plans for festivals up to 2015.
These would identify those responsible for organizing festivals.