Hue Festival 2023 opens with re-enactment of Ban Soc ceremony

Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – Hue Festival
2023, themed “Cultural Heritage with Integration and Development”,
opened in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on January 1.
The festival will span across the whole year with
over 50 major and about 100 response activities.
Highlight activities include a ceremony marking the
30th anniversary of UNESCO’s recognition of Complex of Hue Monuments
as a World Cultural Heritage, the 20th anniversary of Nha Nhac (Vietnam
Court Music) as an Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and Hue Traditional Craft Festival.
Opening
the festival was the re-enactment of Ban Soc ceremony by the Hue
Monuments Conservation Centre. It was the celebration to
officially issue the calendar under the Nguyen Dynasty, held periodically at
the end of the lunar year. Because the ancient Vietnamese people heavily relied
on agricultural economy, the calendar was of immense significance as it helped
the farmers keep track of time for farming activities and beware of weather
changes to adapt to disasters and extreme weather conditions.
On the
occasion, leaders of the provincial authorities presented flowers and gifts to
the first visitors to the complex./.