Participatory-based approach to safeguarding a festival's cultural significance : a case study of Salak Yom festival in Lamphun province, Thailand

Abstract

To analyze the safeguarding process of the Salak Yom Festival in Lamphun Province which has been revitalized by the local community since year 2004. Both the positive and negative impacts strategies used on the cultural significance of the festival were studied in this research with the objective of analyzing their effectiveness and efficiency in the safeguarding of the festival through the combination of qualitative, ethnographic and participatory research methodology. The sources of the information were from the field observation, literature review and interviews during years 2010-2011 to gather information on the cultural significance of the festival during two main periods: the past (before 1957) and present (2004 until 2011) in Tambon Nong Chang Kuen and Tambon Pratupha. The perception and attitude of the informants towards authenticity and changes of the festival in several dimensions reveal the degree of acceptance or rejection for each type of changes, and that the core values are social and spiritual values. The main problem arose from the over emphasis on the economic benefits rather than the meaning and spirituality of the festival. The participatory-based recommendations for the safeguarding of these values are provided for this case study and other similar intangible cultural heritage management.