Hue Festival 2010 - Cultural Heritage with Integration and development - The rendezvous for Ancient Cities and World Cultural Heritages
By the end of 1998 and beginning of 1999, the Government of Vietnam permitted Thua Thien Hue province to organize the Hue Festival 2000 – the first-ever international art, cultural and tourism festival of national scale in Vietnam. Upon its brilliant successes, Hue Festival has been biennually held in even years since then, and this contributes to the government’s decision to build Hue the Festival City of Vietnam.
Over the past festivals, Hue Festival has achieved remarkable results. In 2000, Hue Festival received over 30 art troupes from Vietnam and France with more than 1000 artists, both professional and non-professional performers. The event attracted more than 410,000 spectators, in which there were 41,000 tourists with 6,000 international visitors.
In 2002, there were 33 art groups representing 8 nations and typical art groups of the country, comprising 1,554 artists, performers and technicians. The event drew the participation of approximately 1 million spectators including 75,000 tourists, out of which 18,000 were international visitors.
In 2004, 15 international art groups from 7 countries and 25 domestic troupes totaling 1,300 professional performers, and almost 2,000 non-professional performers and technicians participated in the festival. It received 1,2 million viewers, among them, there were 11,950 international tourists out of 101,950 arrivals.
In 2006, the event gathered 1,440 artists and performers of 22 domestic art groups (with 1,171 performers) and 22 international art troupes (with 269 performers) from 10 countries. It received 150,000 tourists, and among which 20,557 were international visitors.
In 2008, the participation of over 1,500 artists from 37 Vietnamese art groups and 457 artists from 31 foreign groups presented 133 performances to the festival’s audience, and 90 community activities and festivities. The event attracted 180,000 tourists, in which 30,000 were foreign visitors.
Taking the theme “Cultural heritage with Integration and Development”, Hue Festival 2010 as the national premier art events to celebrate the Millennium Anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi and to mark the 50th anniversary of sister cities of Hanoi – Hue – Saigon. The event will be launched on Saturday, June 5th, 2010 and concluded on Sunday evening of June 13th, 2010. An unprecedented feature of the event stays in the fact that this festival will be the gathering of art troupes from all 5 continents, from ancient capitals and cities of world heritages. So far, there have been 40 art groups and artists from 31 nations applied to participate Hue Festival 2010. They are France – major partner, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Central Africa, China, Cuba, Denmark, England, Poland, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Laos, Mexico, Mongolia, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraina, United States and the host country, 31 programs from 21 countries have been confirmed with diverse genres ranging from dance, music, circus, drama. Not only stage performances in the city centre to be showcased by international art groups, there are local and international performances at stages outside the city, and well-known street performing groups will animate the city during the festival.
Art groups and companies from Vietnam include renowned theatres and companies, such as Thang Long Theatre, Bong Sen Theatre, provincial dance and music companies of An Giang, Daklak, Phu Yen, Danang, Thua Thien Hue Provincial Music Theatre Company, Hue Royal Traditional Theatre, and art troupes from the three sister cities of Hue – Hanoi – HCM City, World Heritage Cities, and from cities endowed with extraordinary traditional arts.
Hue Festival 2010 will continue to take advantage of the unique settings of previous festivals. Besides, performing venues will be expanded to the vicinity of Hue and recently developed towns of the province as well as newly-established cultural and sport facilities.
The Citadel still functions as the heart of Hue Festival with some 5 outdoor stages and a number of theatres where exceptional performances are showcased by excellent art troupes in country and abroad. Other performing venues will also be set up at large such as Tinh Tam Lake, An Dinh Palace, Ngo Mon Square, Southern part of the city and its outskirts.
Various venues in the districts of A Luoi, Nam Dong, Phu Loc, Huong Thuy, Phu Vang, Phong Dien, Quang Dien will entertain the public with performances of Vietnamese and international art troupes. Many satellites venues to be arranged for Hue Festival 2010’s activities include Nguyen Van Troi Park, Thuong Bac Park, February 3 Park, Nguyen Dinh Chieu pedestrian road, Thuan An Beach, Lang Co Beach, Thanh Toan Roofed Bridge, Phuoc Tich Ancient Village, the Memorial Park of the national’s hero Quang Trung – Nguyen Hue, the Huyen Tran Princess sacred precinct, and other.
A variety of unique festivities of large scale, well-staged and interesting performances will take place all along 9 days of the festival, including the Grand Opening and Closing ceremonies, Ao dai Grand Show, the “Oriental Night” program, the performance of Viet’s Beauty of the second edition called “the resonance of Ngan river”.
Royal rites and performances being reenacted in previous festivals will artistically be improved such as Nam Giao Offering Ritual, Royal Palace by Night and Legends of the Perfume River. To mark the 1000th Anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi and commemorate the event when Lord Nguyen Phuc Lan decided to choose Kim Long as Nguyen dynasty’s capital, the program called “Itinerary to reclaim the country’s land” and the reenactment of a “Navy maneuver under the Nguyen Lords” will be showcased to audiences.
Moreover, a wide range of fringe and socialized activities are themed in accordance with guideline of the Organizing Committee to create an ebullient ambiance, including a fête for children called “Summer’s cubes”. Hue’s Poetry Festival, etc. Many cultural activities, festivities and community performances will take place, just to name a few: the Art exhibition of female painters and artists, exhibit of Ly Dynasty’s artefacts by Vietnam’s Institute for Fine Arts, photographs and painting exposition by Literature and Arts Associations from Hue, Hanoi, Phu Tho, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa entitled: “From Ancient Capital to Ancient Capital”, the exhibition of lacquer paintings called: “ A Self-narration of the Ancient Capital”, and the display of royal honour-conferring diplomas and ancient books, etc. Installation art works and street art performances will involve the public days and nights. Particularly, the extensive display of street paintings carried out by hundreds of Hue’s painters and students from Hue University of Fine Arts on the floor of Trang Tien bridge and the installation show named “For our Green Planet” with the participation of artists of all three regions nationwide will excite festival’s viewers.
