The sounds made by the gongs of different ethnic groups and countries are an invaluable treasure of the people, the chairman of the Gia Lai Province People’s Committee, Pham The Dung, said at the closing ceremony of the International gong festival at the March 17 Square in the city of Pleiku, the central highland province of Gia Lai, in the evening of November 15.

The Chu Se District's gong troupe of Gia Lai Province perform at the closing ceremony of the 2009 International gong festival.

The ceremony featured special performances like “the Legend of Bien Ho (sea lake),” “The arms of Dam San (the heroic chieftain of E De group) and more.

The four-day event attracted more than 20,000 Vietnamese and international visitors and 400 journalists.

The festival, held to honor the gong culture in the Central Highlands, which has been recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, drew 63 troupes and gong troupes from Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, and Myanmar.


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