HCM City: Festival honouring traditional dress to begin this month hinh anh 1An ao dai show takes place at the announcement event (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism on March 1 announced the 8th municipal ao dai (traditional long dress) festival will kick off on March 5 and last until April 15.

The festival will introduce the beauty and convenience of ao dai, making it a familiar garment of people in contribution to preserving the nation’s cultural identity and promoting the image of the country and Vietnamese people.

Le Truong Hien Hoa, vice director of the department, said the event, taking place in the context of socio-economic recovery in a new normal condition, will show domestic and international tourists a dynamic, modern, interesting and safe HCM City.

The opening ceremony on March 5 will treat the public to a display of more than 300 ao dai models from 15 outstanding collections by renowned local designers.

The festival is planned to feature a peace demonstration of over 2,000 people wearing the dress, an art programme, an exhibition, and a fashion design contest, among others.

It will be accompanied by a series of community-based activities, including a campaign calling for public servants, students, and employees in the tourism-service sector to wear the traditional attire, and local tourism products and promotion events in response to the festival.

On the occasion, the Southern Women's Museum in the city convened an exhibition space on March 1. It is showcasing ao dai worn by Vietnamese women in the two resistance wars against the French colonialists and the American imperialists as well as more than 60 documentary photos of the dress from the early 19th century to present./.
VNA