Dong Nai honors exemplary families from Southern Vietnam

Besides recognizing exemplary families, the festival also provided a platform for participants to exchange experiences in building happy homes, preserving cultural identity, and strengthening the social foundation for the country's sustainable development in the new era.

A gathering place for exemplary families

Thirty-six exemplary families from Southern provinces and cities gathered in Dong Nai, bringing with them simple yet meaningful stories about preserving family happiness. The festival came alive with musical exchanges, traditional costume performances, folk games, a family fun walk, group physical activities, and displays of distinctive One Commune One Product (OCOP) specialties from each locality. Each activity not only highlighted the cultural beauty of different regions but also provided families with opportunities to interact and share experiences in raising children, preserving family traditions, and nurturing bonds across generations.

Dong Nai's representative family performs in the Family Talent competition at the first Festival of Exemplary Families from Southern Provinces and Cities in 2026.

Addressing the festival, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Trinh Thi Thuy said Vietnam's family development efforts have achieved many positive results in recent years. People's living standards have improved, while the "All people unite to build cultural life" movement has spread widely across the country, with many localities maintaining a high proportion of cultural families. However, under the strong impact of both objective and subjective factors, Vietnamese families are facing numerous challenges. Later marriage, reluctance to marry or have children, and increasingly smaller family sizes have become growing trends. Meanwhile, divorce, domestic violence, and child abuse remain complex problems.

Against the backdrop of rapid digital transformation and deepening international integration, reinforcing family values has become more urgent than ever, she said. Although technology can help people process data and access knowledge, core qualities such as character, compassion, a sense of responsibility, and the aspiration to contribute to society are still formed within the family environment. Building families for the new era, therefore, involves not only preserving fine traditional values but also investing in human development, enabling people to acquire the resilience, knowledge, and capabilities needed to master technology and contribute to the country's rapid and sustainable development.

The Deputy Minister expressed her hope that the festival would become an annual cultural gathering for families across Southern Vietnam, where every reunion would help spread the enduring values of the Vietnamese family, every inspiring story would be shared, and every exemplary family would become a source of inspiration for others.

Throughout the festival, a series of interactive activities created a warm cultural space that brought families closer together. Representing Dong Nai's exemplary family delegation, Nguyen Long Hoa and Dang Thi Huong of Dau Giay ward said the greatest reward was not the honor itself but the opportunity to meet other exemplary families, learn from their experiences, and exchange ideas on building happy homes.

Promoting family values in new era

According to Dao Thi Thanh Thuy, Deputy Director of Can Tho Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, this was the first family festival held since Vietnam officially adopted the two-tier local government model, making it particularly meaningful in strengthening connections among localities. Through exchanges and shared experiences, participating families were introduced to effective models and practical approaches to building happy families, while helping raise public awareness of the importance of family development in the new era. Every strong family, she said, contributes to a stable and civilized community.

Over the years, Dong Nai has consistently promoted the cultural family movement, attracting broad public participation and delivering tangible results. While only just over 59% of households were recognized as cultural families in 2000, the figure has now exceeded 98%.

The city has also maintained and expanded more than 1,000 sustainable family development clubs, domestic violence prevention groups, and trusted community addresses. These community models have played an important role in raising public awareness, providing counseling services, and supporting families in building safe, progressive, and violence-free living environments.

"Although the festival has come to an end, the values it celebrates will continue to spread. Returning home, participating families will carry with them meaningful experiences and continue nurturing love, responsibility, and mutual care while helping promote Vietnamese family values throughout their communities."

Nguyen Huu Ngoc, Deputy Chief of the MoCST’s Office.

Speaking at the festival, Le Truong Son, Standing Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai People's Committee, said every exemplary family attending the event was a vivid example of resilience, strong family traditions, and community responsibility. The festival conveyed a clear message: to build a prosperous nation, society must first build happy families.

He expressed their hope that the city would continue to receive attention and guidance from the MoCST, as well as support from the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, the business community, and local residents in its efforts to build happy, prosperous, progressive, and civilized families, thereby meeting development requirements in the new phase.