Hue to live up to its name of “Festival City”

The upcoming biannual Hue festival in central Thua Thien-Hue province will offer new and exciting performances of high professional and artistic quality, in an effort to live up to title of Vietnam’s ‘Festival City’.

The 2008 Hue Festival with the theme “Cultural heritage with integration and development”, will take place from June 3-11. The festival coincides with the 15th anniversary of Hue city being recognised as a world heritage site and the fifth anniversary of Hue royal court music recognised as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humankind.

The festival will focus on the nightly royal art performances, feasts and games in the citadel’s inner city, the Dai Noi.

Twenty-four art troupes from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cambodia, China, France, Japan, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand, the UK and the US will perform at the festival.

Foreign and domestic donors have so far pledged VND10 billion for this year’s festival, tripling the figure of the previous festival in 2006.

The 2008 Hue Festival is expected to attract around 300,000 visitors.