Young overseas Vietnamese enjoy gong performances in Dak Lak province on July 15, 2025. (Photo: VNA)

The young overseas Vietnamese, who returned home for the Vietnam Summer Program 2025, immersed themselves in the Central Highlands’ gong cultural space and experienced playing traditional ethnic musical instruments.

To Central Highlanders, gongs are treasured and sacred instruments that reflect the soul of their culture. They are played to express both joy and sorrow in everyday life.

Vilatda My, an overseas Vietnamese from Laos, said that Laos has traditional instruments such as Phin, a type of lute with a pear-shaped body,  drums, and gongs similarly to those in Dak Lak, which made her feel a sense of familiarity and connection.

Vietnamese-Russian Do Dac Bang said it was the first time he watched gong performances. He wanted to try playing these ethnic instruments as a way to reconnect with his roots.

Dang Sy Phan from Romania shared the same feeling. "It’s a beautiful performance. I learned a lot about the Central Highlands’ cultural identity and the musical instruments made from bamboo and wood. I’ll tell my family about how different the Central Highlands is compared to other regions of Vietnam."

The Central Highlands’ gong performance program entitled “Echoes of the Great Forest” is held on the second and last Saturday evenings every month by the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It showcases ethnic musical instruments, gong pieces used in ceremonies and festivals, and the “xoang” dance of many local ethnic groups.

"Incorporating ritual performances into the Gong Music Festival is something new and very meaningful. Gongs are played in many events, but their most distinctive role is in rituals and folk festivals. A worship ceremony is incomplete without gongs," Meritorious artist Vu Lan, from the Dak Lak Literature and Arts Association, said.

UNESCO recognized the cultural space of the gongs in the Central Highlands as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005 and a Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.