Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – The Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2019, the 8th edition, opened in the former imperial capital of Hue on April 26 with a grand ceremony.
Chairman of the province’s People Committee and head of the festival organising board Nguyen Van Thanh said the festival aims to honour the quintessence of traditional crafts, improve the efficiency of traditional craft production and business, enhance cooperation across spheres, spur socio-economic growth, and combine handicrafts with tourism development.
He emphasized that the festival is a major economic and cultural event of the locality in 2019.
Lasting from April 26 to May 5, the event introduces 60 craft villages and more than 350 artisans from not only Thua Thien-Hue but also other cities and provinces such as Ha Giang, Hoa Binh, Hanoi, Ha Nam, Hung Yen, Thai Binh in the north, Ninh Thuan in the south central region, Lam Dong in the Central Highlands and Dong Thap in the south.
The festival is also attended by 70 foreign artisans from eight cities that have twin-city and cooperative relationships with Hue, namely Takayama, Sasayama, and Saijo of Japan; Gyeongju, Namyangiu, and Dongnae of the Republic of Korea (RoK); Konya of Turkey; and Sao Luix of Brazil.
The Hue traditional craft festival has had positive impacts on the revival and development of traditional crafts in the central province. Local craft villages and artisans have paid attention to improving the design and quality of their products to serve visitors.
During the course of the festival, various programmes will be held such as exhibitions and demonstrations of traditional products of domestic and foreign traditional crafts; the rite to commemorate the patrons of all crafts; the procession honoring artisans and craft villages; along with many side activities, including a balloon festival, an Ao dai event and a special performance by famous RoK artists.-VNA