Hanoi VNA) — The Hanoi International Martial Arts Festival 2026 concluded on August 9 evening with a closing ceremony held at Ba Kieu Temple Flower Garden in downtown Hanoi by the Hanoi People's Committee.
Speaking at the ceremony, Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Pham Tuan Long said the festival left a strong impression not only through outstanding martial arts performances and competitions, but also by providing a platform for martial arts schools, disciplines and organisations from Vietnam and abroad to meet and connect.
The event enabled martial arts masters, coaches and athletes to exchange expertise and experience, deepen mutual understanding and explore opportunities for cooperation, he said.
Long said from the Thang Long Imperial Citadel to the Hoan Kiem Lake area, and from traditional martial arts heritage to modern disciplines, the festival has built bridges between heritage and contemporary life, and between national identity and international integration.
He added that the festival contributed to promoting Hanoi as a thousand-year-old capital rich in cultural heritage, a City for Peace, and a safe, friendly, creative and distinctive destination.
Held under the theme “Thang Long Spirit – Quintessence of Vietnamese Martial Arts,” the festival took place at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel from August 7-9. It was part of Hanoi's efforts to implement Politburo Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW on the development of Vietnamese culture.
Over the three days, nearly 2,000 martial arts masters, fighters, coaches, athletes and artists from 66 delegations participated in the festival, including 59 delegations from cities and provinces and seven international delegations.
The large-scale event featured performances of traditional and modern martial arts, friendly competitions, exhibitions of martial arts uniforms and weapons, historical artefacts and documents, as well as cultural experiences and related activities at various locations across the capital.
The festival attracted around 15,000 spectators in person, while more than 100,000 people followed and interacted with the event through television channels and digital platforms.
Four accompanying tournaments in Jujitsu, Lion-Dance, Taekwondo and the Hanoi Open Vovinam competition brought together 1,200 athletes and drew thousands of spectators, adding to the diversity of the festival's programme.
Building on the success of this year's festival, the organising committee will continue to refine its organisational model, gradually expand its scale, improve professional standards and strengthen international exchanges and cooperation, with the aim of developing the Hanoi International Martial Arts Festival into a distinctive cultural and sports product of the capital.
In the coming years, the organising board hopes that martial arts federations, associations, schools and organisations inside and outside the country will maintain close ties, enhance exchanges and experience-sharing, and pay greater attention to training, instruction and grassroots development.
It also called for more healthy exchange events, performances and competitions to help spread the Thang Long spirit and the quintessence of Vietnamese martial arts in contemporary life./.
