Biennial Hue Festival 2020 gets an August date

The biennial Hue Festival, a keenly awaited cultural extravaganza, will be held August 28-September 2 in Hue, five months after its original schedule.

With the country going two months without community transmission of the novel coronavirus and most of tourism spots reopening, organizers of the 11th edition of the festival decided to set the new date.

The grand opening ceremony of Hue Festival 2020 will be held August 28 at the Ngo Mon Square, honoring the traditional and contemporary cultural values of the former imperial town of Hue, home to the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), Vietnam’s last ruling royal family, as also other regions in the country.

A street carnival is to be held every day from 4:30 p.m. from August 29 to September 2, honoring the national dresses of ASEAN countries through costume performances and dances.

A cuisine festival will take place on these days at the Thuong Bac Park, serving famous local and national specialties.

A concert featuring famous compositions by musical and lyrical genius Trinh Cong Son will be held at 8 p.m. on August 30. Another arts program will take place at 8 p.m. on August 31, introducing the beauty of the Huong (Perfume) River, which runs through Hue and is a popular tourist destination in central Vietnam. On the evening of September 1, festival goers and electronic music lovers will be entertained by leading DJs in Vietnam.

The closing ceremony of the festival will be held at 8 p.m. on September 2, Vietnam’s National Day, marking the 75th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by President Ho Chi Minh. The event will include an ao dai performance, honoring the beauty and elegance of the Vietnamese traditional dress. The ao dai has for long been an icon of Vietnamese culture that highlights the graceful beauty of Vietnamese women.

Organizers said the event will be a good opportunity for international visitors to see how the heritage town has come a long way from being the country’s ancient capital to a rising tourism star in the central region.

Thua Thien-Hue received over 4.8 million visitors last year, 2.1 million of them foreigners.

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

Vietnam eased its social distancing measures on April 23 with all local tourist destinations reopened, though the country remains closed to foreign entry except for special cases to contain the pandemic.

Thua Thien-Hue reopened its famous pedestrian zone, comprising Vo Thi Sau, Chu Van An and Pham Ngu Lao streets in the ancient town’s Phu Hoi Ward, since mid-May with certain restrictions.

Of the 333 Covid-19 patients in Vietnam, 323 have recovered.

By Nguyen Quy – VnExpress.net – June 15, 2020