Hue Festival 2012 opens

A performance at the opening ceremony of Hue Festival 2012

The opening ceremony was attended by PM Nguyen Tan Dung, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad, National Assembly Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu, former Party and State leaders, veteran cadres, international friends, and thousands of local people and visitors.

The two-hour opening thoroughly entertained the audiences with special art performances and colorful fireworks.

Addressing the ceremony, PM Dung emphasized that Hue Festival is not only aimed at promoting the image of Hue city and the north-central coastal region, but also offers a good chance to consolidate the friendship between Vietnam and international friends.

This is a good opportunity for people from around the globe to gather and demonstrate their unique cultural identities, offering good chances to foster ties and join hands in building a peaceful and prosperous world on the basis of multi-color culture, he said.

The Government leader also emphasized the significance of the festival and the National Tourism Year, which is taking place when Vietnam is doing its best to promote its tourism sector.

He asked central ministries and agencies and localities to fully tap their potential to attract 10 million international and 48 million domestic tourists, earning $20 billion, contributing 7 per cent to the country’s GDP, and creating three million new jobs every year by 2020.

Hue festival 2012, within the framework of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), will feature unique Vietnamese arts, especially Hue Royal art, special cultural identities from across the country, and special performances by 50 art troupes from around the world.

During the eight-day cultural event, there will be various activities such as the Nam Giao Offering Ritual, the Imperial Night, the “A Peaceful World” spectacle of royal dances and music combined with lantern installations, a dialogue of drums and percussion instruments themed “Resounding the Spirit of Vietnam”, and “Oriental Night” shows featuring traditional costumes of Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Mongolia, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

There will also be seminars and conferences which provide scientists and businessmen forums to discuss issues related to cultural preservation and development and challenges facing the community, especially the 13th annual conference of the League of Historical Cities (LHC).