Hue Festival - a "bridge" connecting cultures and international cooperation

VHO - After 13 editions, Hue Festival is an international cultural exchange event, attracting the attention of art troupes and partners around the world . Preserving traditional cultural identity in the contemporary flow, Hue Festival has also opened up many opportunities for artistic creation to connect cultures around the world.

Originating from the Hue Festival 2000 with the coordination between Thua Thien Hue and the French Embassy in Vietnam, the following Festivals were proactively planned by Thua Thien Hue province in coordination with ministries and branches to be organized in a more systematic, large-scale and high-quality manner. Hue Festival is held every 2 years in even-numbered years; from 2022, the event will be held annually with the orientation of a four-season Festival.

The participation of domestic and international art troupes in Hue Festivals as well as the number of tourists coming to the series of events within the framework of this festival has contributed to expanding cultural exchanges and developing tourism economy. In 2000, the events and activities of Hue Festival lasted for 12 days and nights, with the participation of 30 domestic and French art units, attracting 410,000 attendees; including 41,000 tourists, with 6,000 international visitors...

The event is considered a national and international cultural, artistic and tourism festival, and is considered a rehearsal for political, diplomatic, economic and cultural exchange activities; promoting the comparative advantages of Thua Thien Hue province in the field of culture and tourism.

The following Hue Festivals with the theme “Cultural heritage with integration and development”, many countries in the world sent their own art troupes to participate, such as: France, Belgium, China, Japan, Korea, the United States, India, Australia, Russia, England, Spain, Belgium, Argentina, Germany, Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Norway… Thereby, opening up many opportunities for exchange and cooperation, promoting common development in culture and diplomacy.

Positioning the “brand” of Hue Festival, since 2022, Hue Festival has been organized in a four-season format, with a series of cultural and artistic events and festival activities taking place all year round, attracting the attention of many international units. Instead of focusing on displaying the cultural characteristics of the ancient capital of Hue and the performances and exchanges of international partners in a short Festival; now, Thua Thien Hue organizes and arranges programs throughout the year and the highlight is the Hue International Arts Festival week.

Art units from countries that cannot arrange to participate in the week can choose other time points throughout the year to perform, exchange, and promote culture at the Spring Festival, Summer Festival, Autumn Festival, and Winter Festival. Along with that, the number of tourists to Hue has also increased steadily over the years, it is expected that in 2024, Thua Thien Hue will welcome about 4 million visitors.

Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Party Central Committee's External Relations Commission Le Hoai Trung, commented: After 24 years since its first organization, Hue Festival has become more and more beautiful, imbued with the profound cultural characteristics of the nation, the romance, grace, and depth of Hue, and has many modern features. Hue Festival is also increasingly international, a place where many ethnic groups in the world demonstrate their unique cultural beauty.

“Thus, the Hue Festival contributes to promoting tourism, economic and social development; and vividly demonstrates Vietnam's cultural traditions, respect for culture and comprehensive international integration, contributing to promoting peace, friendship and cooperation,” Mr. Le Hoai Trung emphasized.

During the recent Hue International Arts Festival Week 2024, many artists and art troupes from international countries also shared their interesting experiences when participating in performances and cultural exchanges in the ancient capital of Hue. At the same time, they hope to continue to return to Hue on other occasions, not only the International Arts Festival Week but also at local cultural events.

Mr. Moussa Diarra - Deputy Mayor of Cergy City, France shared: This is the third time we have come to Hue Festival and here we have received and learned many things. We hope to return to Hue Festival in the next editions or participate in cultural activities in Hue.

Artists from Cergy City also had interesting experiences in street performances and performances in community spaces. In particular, 4 members of the Cergy Hiphop dance group also participated in exchange activities and performances at Dong Ba market - a famous market in Hue. In addition, the art troupe of Cergy City and Hue City had cultural and artistic exchange activities with the theme "From tradition to modernity".

Coming to Hue Festival for the 5th time, the stilt troupe De Koninklijke Steltenlopers Merchtem (Kingdom of Belgium) continues to bring impressive performances and exchange activities with the community. Artist Janick Appelmens, 51 years old, informed: 47 members of the Royal stilt troupe of Merchtem region are of different ages, including children, women, and adults over 60 years old. They have different jobs, studies, and conditions, but when preparing for Hue Festival, everyone temporarily stopped working to bring the culture of Merchtem region to Hue and the community of other countries.

“We perform on stilts from 1m to 4m high, along with music performances, drums, trumpets, saxophones... Enlivening the street festival and exchanging with international friends and Hue people” - artist Janick Appelmens shared.

During the Hue International Arts Festival Week 2024 alone, 30 art troupes from France, Belgium, Spain, Canada, Japan, China, Korea and Vietnam participated in dozens of festival programs, art performances, and vibrant cultural and artistic exchanges. Thereby, continuing to open up many opportunities for international exchange and integration, promoting friendship and cooperation...

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/festival-hue-cau-noi-gan-ket-cac-nen-van-hoa-va-hop-tac-quoc-te-106852.html