Hanoi Amateur Water Puppetry Festival to take place in late April

Hanoi (VNA) - The Hanoi Amateur Water Puppet Festival 2023 will be held in late April and early May, aiming at preserving Vietnam’s unique intangible heritage and meeting the public’s demand, according to the municipal Department of Culture and Sports.

The festival, which will take place at thuy dinh (communal house on the water with decorations typical of northern Vietnamese villages) stage area at the Cultural Centre of Hanoi, is part of activities to celebrate the National Reunification Day (April 30) and May Day.

Folk puppet artisans and non-professional members of traditional water puppet troupes from all around Hanoi will join in a single water puppet show, which lasts for at least 25 minutes.

Each performance puppet show contest should re-enact glorious historical events of the nation; present the daily life and work of Vietnamese people; and promote the cultural value of Vietnam.

The event offers an opportunity for water puppet troupes to exchange experiences in traditional art performances.

Water puppetry originated in the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam around the 10th century, where almost all towns and villages have communal ponds, which were used as the puppet show stage.

Thach That and Dao Thuc villages in Hanoi and Rach and Nguyen Xa villages in the nearby provinces of Nam Dinh and Thai Binh are some of the earliest known centres of water puppetry.

Traditionally, water puppetry performances portray the daily life of Vietnamese farmers (cultivating, tending buffalo, and catching fish), communal entertainment (swimming races and dragon dancing), or historical legends (like Le Loi returning the precious sword to the Golden Turtle in Hoan Kiem Lake) appealing to audiences for centuries./.