Hoi An village to put silk on show

Smooth as: Hoi An Silk Village will join the International Silk Forum in Hangzhou, China with world-famous silk enterprises and brands from Brazil, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Thailand and mainland China on October 22-23.-Photo Courtesy of Hoi An Silk Village

A representative of Hoi An Silk Village said they would be the only Vietnamese producer attending this forum and the Asia Silk Alliance and International Silk Union seminars .

Hoi An Silk Village, located at 28 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in ancient Hoi An City, is a silk-weaving centre and living museum of the ancient trade in the central region.

The village was voted as the third best attraction in Hoi An by the travel website TripAdvisor last year.

The two-hectare area cultivates 40 strains of mulberry, including some that the former rulers of the area, the Cham, used to produce the best quality silk.

The village also features restaurants and bars for up to1,000 visitors in a luxurious open-air space with colonial style decoration with both Vietnamese and world cuisine.

The area also hosts various galas including ‘Hoi An Legends Night', ‘Night of Silk Fashion' and ‘Champa Legend', whisking customers into the rich past of the silk trade and local Champa culture.

The area will host the Vietnam-Asia Silk Culture Festival 2015 on December 12th.

A series of programmes are planned for the festival, including the Asia Silk Alliance seminar; Business Matching of Asia Silk Enterprises and 100 tailor's brands of Hoi An; Hand-made Souvenir Expo; Vietnam-Asia Silk Fashion show and Hoi An Cuisine Fair.

At the meeting of the silk enterprises of the Greater Mekong Sub-region countries in Thailand earlier this month, Hoi An Silk Village represented Vietnam and joined the Asia Silk Alliance as one of seven founding members with responsibility for linking Vietnamese silk enterprises with the wider Asian silk community.

Last year, top craftsmen and women from seven silk villages in Vietnam participated in the Vietnam Silk Culture Day.