Lam Dong Youth Preserve Traditional Crafts and Cultural Heritage
Driven by a deep appreciation for their cultural heritage, many young people in Lam Dong are building careers based on traditional crafts and performing arts. Their efforts are helping preserve ancestral traditions, bring indigenous culture into modern life and create sustainable livelihoods.
Keeping Traditional Crafts Alive
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As noon approaches, Thi Thanh, a young M'nong artisan from Kien Duc Commune, remains focused at her loom. With skilled hands, she gradually weaves colorful threads into the distinctive patterns of her ethnic community.
Having learned weaving from her grandmother at the age of 13, Thanh now produces traditional clothing, handbags and other handcrafted items for both local residents and visitors. By developing new designs, promoting her products on social media and collaborating with women in her village, she earns between VND 7 million and 9 million each month.
In addition to brocade weaving, she also helps market traditional rice wine made by local families, creating additional income opportunities for the community.
"I'm happy that I can earn a living from a traditional craft while helping preserve the cultural identity of the M'nong people," Thanh said.
Traditional culture is also being preserved through gong performances. At tourist sites in Lang Biang–Da Lat Ward, members of the K'Druynk Gong Club combine the resonant sounds of gongs with graceful xoang dances, introducing visitors to the cultural traditions of the Lach people.
Many tourists eagerly join the performances, learning to play the gongs and dance alongside local performers while creating unforgettable memories. These cultural shows not only promote indigenous heritage but also provide stable income for club members.
Among the performers is Meble Phrim, a young woman from the Lach ethnic group who has spent more than a decade learning gong music and xoang dance. She also plays several traditional instruments, including the T'rung bamboo xylophone, lithophone and Dinh Pah, while mentoring younger club members.
For her, performing for visitors is both a source of income and an opportunity to introduce her community's culture while inspiring younger generations to value and preserve their heritage.
"Performing and sharing my culture with visitors while earning a living from what I love motivates me to continue preserving our gong traditions," she said.
Keeping Culture Alive for Future Generations
In recent years, the Lam Dong Provincial Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Federation of Lam Dong Province have actively implemented the project "Youth Participation in Preserving and Promoting Vietnamese Ethnic Cultural Identity, 2025–2029."
The program includes visits to historical sites, experiences at traditional craft villages, folk culture clubs and training in traditional handicrafts, gong music, folk songs and dances for young people.
Cultural exchange activities linked with community-based and experiential tourism have also expanded, allowing young people to showcase local traditions while developing communication, event management and tourism-related entrepreneurial skills.
Between 2024 and 2026, youth organizations across the province organized more than 850 cultural education and heritage activities, attracting over 68,250 participants. They also hosted more than 630 cultural performances, folk games, traditional festivals and youth events, drawing over 55,850 young people.
According to H'Hong, Deputy Secretary of the Lam Dong Provincial Youth Union and Chairwoman of the Vietnam Youth Federation of Lam Dong Province, the organization will continue implementing the cultural preservation project by organizing at least four provincial-level activities each year and a minimum of two cultural heritage events annually in every commune, ward and special administrative zone.
Youth organizations will also continue expanding folk culture clubs and connecting cultural preservation with community tourism, entrepreneurship and livelihood development. Through these efforts, Lam Dong aims to strengthen cultural pride while ensuring that traditional heritage remains a valuable resource for the province's sustainable development.