This is one of the unique cultural activities within the framework of the 2nd Thang Long - Hanoi Festival in 2026, and also an activity towards the 950th anniversary of the founding of Quoc Tu Giam - the first Quoc Hoc school of Vietnam (1076 – 2026).
The program includes three main activities: Specialized exhibition "One drum - One sound of drum - Thousand years of civilization"; drum making experience; drum art performance.
The exhibition space introduces the story of Vietnamese traditional drums through artifacts, documents, images, products and typical crafting tools; thereby helping the public learn about history, cultural and artistic values as well as drum making techniques preserved in many regions.
The exhibition introduces a number of typical craft villages and cultural regions such as Doi Tam drum village (Ninh Binh), Lam Yen drum village (Quang Nam), Binh An drum village (Long An), Tay Nguyen drum cultural space and some localities and craft villages with traditional drum making and use.
Not only introducing finished products, the exhibition also tells the story behind each drum: from raw materials, handicraft techniques, professional experience to knowledge preserved and passed down by generations of artisans.
Also at the program, the public had the opportunity to observe some typical stages in the drum making process, from selecting materials, creating drum trunks, processing and stretching drum faces to completing products.
Artisans also exchange and share about techniques, experiences and stories related to the process of preserving and passing on the craft.
In addition, the program also includes art performances introducing the diverse nuances of drums in Vietnamese cultural life through performances associated with festival drums, village festival drums, school drums and some forms of drums in traditional rituals.
In particular, the program is expected to introduce the gong and chieng cultural space combined with the Central Highlands drum, contributing to highlighting the richness and diversity of performance forms and sound expressions in the cultural life of communities in Vietnam.
Speaking about the program, Mr. Le Xuan Kieu, Director of the Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam Cultural and Scientific Activities Center, said that drums are a very familiar image in the cultural life of Vietnamese people, but behind each drum sound are many layers of values about history, handicrafts, festivals, beliefs and community life.
Through display, performance and experience activities, the program "One drum - One sound of drum - Thousand years of civilization" wishes to help the public understand those values more deeply, and at the same time more clearly recognize the role of artisans and communities in preserving and transmitting professional knowledge through many generations.
