The media centre for the Hue Festival 2018 opened on April 23 at No. 1, Phan Boi Chau street, Hue city, serving reporters to cover the biennial event. 

At the media centre.

The centre is part of the sponsorship package worth 1 billion VND (44,000 USD) of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), under which, the group will provide telecommunications and IT services for the festival. VNPT has maintained the sponsorship for ten years. 

Nguyen Dung, Vice Chairman of the Thua Thien-Hue province People’s Committee, said to date, there have been some 20 sponsors for the festival, with total funding of around 22.5 billion VND (990.000 USD).

As many as 21 art troupes from 20 countries nationwide have registered to join the festival, which is scheduled to take place from April 27 to May 2 under the themed “Cultural heritage with integration and development – Hue one destination, five world heritages.”

A wide range of activities will be held as part of the event, including a Buddhism cultural programme, a national festival of “Hat Van” or “Chau Van” (a traditional art form that combines singing and dancing), a music show featuring songs of late musician Trinh Cong Son, a scientific festival, an international trade fair, a cuisine fair and a poem festival.

Hue, which was the imperial capital of Vietnam for hundreds of years, is home to five heritages recognised by UNESCO, namely the Hue ancient citadel relic complex – a World Cultural Heritage site; Nha Nhac (Hue royal court music)- an intangible cultural heritage item; Nguyen Dynasty’s wood blocks – a documentary heritage item; Nguyen Dynasty’s Chau ban (royal administrative documents) – part of the Asia-Pacific Register of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme; and literature on Hue royal architecture - a documentary heritage.-VNA