Hue Festival to bring visitors new tourism experience: organisers

A photo of the opening ceremony at the Hue Festival 2018, which gathered 1.2 million visitors and thousands of artists. (Photo: huefestival.com)

Phan Ngoc Tho, chairman of the province’s People’s Committee, confirmed the event will be an important chance for the locality to promote tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The event, dubbed Cultural Heritage with Integration and Development – Hue is always New, will bring visitors fresh and unique experiences on culture, history and art,” he said.

An artistic programme will open the festival at 8pm on August 28 at Ngo Mon (Noon Gate) Square, honouring the traditional and contemporary cultural values of the central province of Thua Thien-Hue and other regions of the country.

A street carnival will take place every day at 4.30pm from August 29 to September 2 featuring the national dress of various ASEAN countries through costume performances and dances.

A food festival will also be held during the days at Thuong Bac Park, offering famous local dishes.

A music programme featuring famous songs by the great musician Trinh Cong Son (1939-2001) will be held at 8pm on August 30.

Another arts programme will take place at 8pm on August 31, featuring the Huong (Perfume) River, which runs through Hue, while leading DJs in Vietnam and the region will entertain guests with electronic music on the evening of September 1.

The closing ceremony will take place at 8pm on September 2, together with an “ao dai” performance.

Various community activities will be organised before, during and after the festival including a festival of art clubs nationwide, kite festival, beer festival, a trade fair, VNExpress Marathon Hue and fine art exhibitions.

The biennial festival was initially slated for April 1-6 but was postponed due to COVID-19.

The Hue Festival 2018 gathered nearly 1,400 artists and professional performers, including 388 from 24 international art troupes and nearly 1,000 from Vietnam.

Thousands of amateur artists also took part in the festival, which welcomed more than 1.2 million visitors.