Hoi An, My Son to open free to tourists at June festival

The My Son relic and Hoi An ancient town will be open free to visitors
during the 2013 Quang Nam Festival.(Tuoi Tre)

The Hoi An ancient town and My Son relic, both UNESCO heritage sites, will be open free of charge to visitors during the seven-day festival.

The festival’s main activities will take place at the two sites to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The opening ceremony on June 26 will be broadcast live.

One of the festival’s highlights is the street carnival which will see the participation of 11 international choirs and 200 artists in their traditional costumes from Southeast Asia, South Korea and Japan.

Another is the exhibition of ASEAN heritages in Hoi An ancient town which features 16 ancient houses and each country’s cultural hallmark characteristics.

The third Miss Ethnic Vietnam final is also expected to draw crowds.

The festival will also boast Cham culture fest at the My Son relic, the re-creation of Hoi An ancient town in the early 20th century, a collective art fest by the Vietnamese ethnic minorities, along with workshops on heritage preservation, commercial investment and tourism promotion.

On this occasion, the province has launched several tours to the Ho Chi Minh Trail, traditional brocade weaving villages and hamlets of Co Tu ethnic groups.

Dozens of local and international art troupes have registered to join the event so far.

Hoi An was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999, while My Son, the former site for  religious centers in Champa Kingdom’s capital, earned the UNESCO recognition the same year.