(TITC) - From 14 to 16 October 2012, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in collaboration with Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ninh Thuan Province will hold the culture, sports and tourism festival of Cham ethnic group with the theme "Cham culture - preservation, promotion and integration" in 4 locations of Ninh Thuan Province, including Po Klong Garai Tower tourist area (Phan Rang-Thap Cham City), Huu Duc Commune's stadium, My Nghiep brocade weaving village and Bau Truc pottery village (Ninh Phuoc District).
The festival attracts the participations of provinces and cities where Cham people live such as Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Phu Yen, An Giang, Tay Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City and localities having typical Cham cultural heritage such as Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Da Nang.
The opening ceremony of the festival will take place on the New Year's eve on Cham calendar (14 October) to introduce panorama of Cham culture as well as culture of ethnic groups in the country.
In framework of the festival, many attractive culture, sports activities will also be held such as: photo exhibition on Vietnamese ethnic groups; introduction about culinary culture of Cham ethnic people; fair - exhibition "Cham culture-economy on the way of integration"; introduction of books on Cham culture; performances of arts and Cham traditional costumes; sports contests (football, volleyball, marathon, day gay (pushing sticks), carrying Cham water pot on heads...); contest of brocade weaving... especially a workshop on conservation and development of Cham culture (16 October) with the participations of Cham cultural researchers, scientists, managers to assess the situation of Cham culture and exploit Cham cultural values for tourism development.
To attract more tourists to Ninh Thuan, during the festival, People's Committee of Ninh Thuan Province will cooperate with travel agencies, hotels, restaurants to welcome visitors, develop tours to typical tourist attractions such as: Poklong Garai Tower, Bau Truc pottery village, some famous wine grapes' manufacturers...
Cham ethnic people live mainly in 3 provinces of Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, An Giang and scattered in provinces from South Central to West South and East South region. Cham culture contains many unique factors expressed through more than 100 festivals held all year around. Therefore, preservation and promotion of Cham culture plays a very important role.
The culture, sports and tourism festival of Cham ethnic group 2012 is an opportunity to promote and honor cultural characteristics of Cham people and also an occasion for artisans, artists in the whole country to meet, learn and exchange experiences in the culture preservation and promotion of Cham people.
Thu Giang