The Gò Găng conical hat craft village in Gia Lai Province is celebrating the Lunar New Year with renewed pride after receiving official recognition as a traditional craft village under Government Decree No. 52/2018/NĐ-CP.
The designation, granted in late December 2025 by the provincial People’s Committee, offers legal status and access to state support programs aimed at preserving cultural heritage and boosting rural livelihoods.
Local officials say the recognition marks a turning point for the long-standing craft. Decision 3237, announced on December 28, affirms the cultural, economic and social significance of the Gò Găng conical hat tradition and opens the door to vocational training, trade promotion, environmental protection initiatives and craft-village tourism development.
The village now has 578 households engaged in conical hat production—more than 23% of all households across the five residential groups of Tiên Hội, Vĩnh Phú, Châu Thành, Phú Thành and Vạn Thuận.
Output remains steady, generating over VND 8.4 billion (USD 323,000) in 2023 and more than VND 9.1 billion (USD 350,000) in 2024. Alongside production, the community has expanded environmental programs, including waste-collection plans and self-managed environmental teams.
As spring sunlight settles over An Nhơn Bắc Ward, artisans continue crafting the village’s signature ivory-white conical hats. The rhythmic stitchwork, entirely handmade, spans a series of stages from selecting and ironing leaves to shaping frames, stitching and reinforcing rims.
Veteran artisan Lê Thị Kim Loan, 70, from Tiên Hội, recalls growing up with the craft, which has been passed down through generations since the early days of settlement in old An Nhơn. “By the age of eight, I was going to the Gò Găng market with my mother at 3 a.m. to sell hats,” she said. “Almost every household made hats. That’s why people started calling them Gò Găng hats.”
Known for durability, graceful shaping and the fine white leaves that define their aesthetic, Gò Găng hats have long been traded beyond the local market, carried nationwide by both merchants and tourists. As demand grew, traders began placing orders directly with households instead of waiting at markets.
For Nguyễn Thị Phường, 54, this spring marks 45 years with the craft. She began helping her mother select leaves and split bamboo at age ten before mastering the technique of forming a perfectly round hat. “Making hats requires not only skill but patience,” she said. She noted that residents have diversified products to meet tourism demand, producing souvenir and decorative hats to expand the craft’s value.
The official recognition has sparked excitement among villagers, who see it as validation of generations of work. Elderly artisans say the acknowledgment safeguards ancestral traditions, while younger villagers feel inspired by what they call “old craft – new vitality”.
Resident Nguyễn Thị Lê said the decision reflects growing attention to intangible cultural heritage tied to community life. “We have preserved this craft through many ups and downs, just as we have preserved the stories of An Nhơn Bắc. Recognition is an important first step,” she said.
Ward Vice Chairman Đinh Thanh Trình said the locality plans to integrate the craft village into cultural tourism, designing experiences where visitors can watch the hat-making process and try stitching hats themselves. “Preserving and developing the Gò Găng conical hat craft village is not only about safeguarding cultural values but also about sustainable rural economic development”, he said.
He added that priorities include encouraging households to pass down hat-making techniques, applying support policies for recognized craft villages, and gradually building and promoting the Gò Găng brand.
