A performance at the Trần Temple Festival 2023 in the northern province of Thái Bình. VNA/VNS Photo Thế Duyệt

With nearly 8,000 cultural and traditional events to take place nationwide annually, the set of criteria (SoC) is considered basic tools for local organisers to unanimously undertake solutions in holding festivals, promoting and honouring cultural values in a safe and effective way.

It includes three parts. Part one is about viewpoints, goals, and meaning of the criteria while part two is about the content and part three is focusing on its implementation.

The SoC is developed with the aim to encourage, orient and motivate local authorities and local festival organising boards to conduct activities to improve and enhance the management quality in traditional cultural events so that to build a "healthy" cultural environment meeting the people's needs for cultural and spiritual enjoyment in a suitable socio-economic conditions in the country, according to the culture ministry.

The traditional Firework Festival 2023 in Đồng Kỵ Village, in the northern province of Bắc Ninh. — VNA/VNS Photo Thái Hùng

It also helps preserve and promote national traditional cultural values, popularise good customs and practices in the society and gradually eliminate evil and backward traditions, raise local people's and tourists' awareness and responsibility about building a "healthy cultural environment" when participating in festivals.

There are nine general criteria and nine specific criteria in the SoC.

The general criteria clarify that state festival management should strictly follow the regulations and law while investments in facilities and equipment should meet the requirements of the festivals. All festivals should be held ensuring security, social order and safety.

Activities on fire and explosion prevention, food hygiene and safety, environmental sanitation, disease prevention and control should also be maintained during the festivals.

Festival services should be arranged in areas that ensure protecting the local site beauty and providing safe and convenient conditions for people and tourists when participating in the events.

Business services at festivals should commit to comply with legal regulations on public services and of the organising boards on implementing a civilised lifestyle and cultural behaviour.

Festival activities should also be held ensuring the preservation and promotion traditional cultural values on the basis of protecting the local ecological environment and natural landscape; harmoniously resolving the relation between conservation and development.

Meanwhile, the nine specific criteria clearly stipulate the responsibilities of authorities, organising boards and units, facilities supplying services, and festival participants.

The culture ministry also authorises provincial and city departments of culture, sports and tourism to direct and guide localities in deploying the SoC implementation to ensure compatibility with local economic, cultural and social conditions. VNS