Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Despite the death of a buffalo owner at Hai Phong’straditional buffalo fighting festival in July, anthropologists and tourismexperts argued at a conference that the festival should continue and bepromoted to tourists.

The Do Son buffalo fighting festival dates back to Tran dynasty (1226-1400),when fishermen organised the matches to sacrifice buffaloes to the Sea God toask for luck and good weather for fishing.

The event, which has been organised on every ninth day of the eighth lunarmonth, has become an occasion for locals and visitors to gather to enjoy thefights as a betting game.

But controversies relating to the treatment of the buffalo, and the incident atthe festival in July where a buffalo butted and killed his owner, have spurredcalls to ban it. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism organised aworkshop here to discuss the festival and its future.

Prof To Ngoc Thanh, Chairman of the Vietnam Folklore Literature and ArtsAssociation, said that the ministry should not ban the traditional event.

“[The death of the buffalo owner in July] was only an accident,” he said. “Wealso cannot rely on opinions from animal protectors to stop such an intangiblecultural heritage. They are only one group of people. They interfere a littlefar into cultural life.”

Researcher Tran Huu Son, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Folkore Literature andArts Association, said locals should be the ones to decide whether to maintainor stop the traditional practice.

Prof Nguyen Chi Ben, former rector of the National Institute for Culture andArts Research, compared the buffalo fighting festival to the Phu Day WorshipFestival, an important tradition for worshippers of the Mother Goddess, in thenorthern province of Nam Dinh.

“We used to ban it, but then recognised it as part of our national cultureheritage,” he said. “The buffalo sacrifice festival in the Central Highlandsused to be frowned upon, too.”

He noted that traditional festivals that have become controversial in themodern era remain central to the country’s history. In 2004, he was in chargeof creating a dossier about the Central Highlands region for a gong culturalspace in the area. Despite pressure to exclude images of the buffalo sacrificeritual, he decided to add them to the collection.

“I thought of the French anthropologist George Louis Condominas [1921-2011],who understood Central Highlands people well,” he said.

“He would know that talking about the Central Highlands without mentioning thebuffalo sacrifice rituals is cheating.”

Prof Tu Thi Loan, from the same institute, echoed her colleague by saying thatmany sacrifice rituals continue to be practiced throughout the world. Theseinclude a goat sacrifice ritual among Muslims in India and the sport ofbullfighting in Spain.

Prof Thanh suggested better management of the buffalo fighting festival by thelocal community and authorities to avoid commercialising the event.

“I support the Do Son people in continuing the festival, but they shouldimprove the organisation of the event,” he said.

Prof Luong Hong Quang, Deputy Rector of the institute, said the currentpractice of buffalo fighting at a large stadium should be distinguished fromthe traditional event.

“The traditional ritual should be organised at villages, while the event forbigger crowds should be organised more professionally,” he said.

“People specialising in dealing with tourism and services should be in chargeof the event for bigger crowds,” he said.

Researcher Son said locals could turn the event into a major tourist draw,while preserving the traditional practices. The customs in the villages, fromthe opening ritual to fighting sessions, should remain central, he said.

Ticket sales will be an important income source, along with supporting servicessuch as food and accommodations at the site.

Researchers agreed that state management is also important, even though thefestival is a local community event.

“We should reduce the number of buffalo joining the event,” said Trinh Thi Thuy,Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

“The number may be limited to only eight pairs of fighting buffalo.

The true significance of the festival does not depend on the scale of theevent. We may stick to only one match on the ninth day of the eight lunarmonth.”-VNA