VietNamNet Bridge – The ancient city of Hoi An will apply to list its annual mid autumn festival and the traditional pottery craft of Thanh Ha Village as National intangible heritages.

Colourful: Artists perform lion and unicorn dance during the annual mid autumn festival in Hoi An. The city plans to include the festival as National Intangible Heritage. VNS Photo Thanh Son KBS

Truong Chi Trung, director of the city’s Centre for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation, told Viet Nam News that the festival and the craft have Hoi An roots going back over six centuries.

“The annual mid autumn festival, which has thrived since Hoi An became a busy trading port in the 14th century, has been preserved among community in the city’s downtown and rural area,” Trung said.

“The festival, which falls on full-moon day of the lunar August, is one of the most important and sacred events among locals, whether it is organised downtown, in living quarters or in suburban villages,” he said.

He added that local residents have preserved the traditional offering with lion and union dance as ancestors did in past centuries.

The festival now lures more visitors watching local residents celebrating the Full Moon Festival in front of houses on every corner of Hoi An on the 14th day of the eighth lunar month.

Lanterns often light up the houses, restaurants, cafés, shops and streets of Hoi An during the festival. Candle-lit paper flowers are also be released on the Hoai River on that day.

Meanwhile, the pottery village of Thanh Ha, where terra-cotta has played as a key role in trade for generations, has become the favourite destination in Hoi An City.

The village, 5km away from Hoi An’s downtown, fully practices the old pottery lifestyle with deep known-how.

“Thanh Ha is one of the most traditional crafts villages in central Viet Nam. The village has been a major producer of earthen pots, bowls, bricks and tiles for central Viet Nam since the 14th century,” Trung said.

The village, which is seen as a living museum of pottery, offers tourists a chance to explore the trade by practicing the craft with old potters at their workshops.

He said the promotion of the festival and the craft would help promote tourism and preserve the traditional culture value of Hoi An.

Last year, Kim Bong Village’s carpentry craft in Hoi An was recognised as a national intangible heritage.

Hoi An celebrated the arrival of its 10 millionth tourist at the old quarter’s Japanese Bridge last month.

The UNESCO-recognised world heritage site hosted 1.6 million tourists last year, a 34 per cent increase from 2015. 

Stacks on stacks: Terra-cotta jars are dried in Thanh Ha Village in Hoi An. VNS Photo Cong Thanh Touch of love: A potter forms a ceramic jar at Thanh Ha Village in Hoi An. — VNS Photo Cong Thanh

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