The first Vietnam Puppetry Festival opened on Nguyen Hue Pedestrian street, Ho Chi Minh City, on August 16 with the participation of six theatres.

The first Vietnam Puppetry Festival opened on Nguyen Hue Pedestrian street, Ho Chi Minh City, on August 16.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Vuong Duy Bien said the festival will contribute to enriching cultural and recreational activities on Nguyen Hue Pedestrian street.

He hoped that the festival would continue being held and become a tourist product and an art brand name, luring visitors to the pedestrian street and HCM City as well.

The three-day event offers Ho Chi Minh City dwellers as well as tourists free Vietnamese puppetry performances in an outdoor cultural exchange space for the first time.

Different forms of Vietnamese puppetry, such as rode, hand, string, and machine and water puppetry, are introduced to audience during the festival by hundreds of puppeteers from the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre, Phuong Nam Art Theatre, Hai Phong Puppetry Theatre, Dong Nai Art Theatre, Kite Theatre, and the Soul Music & Performing Arts Academy.

Through the activities, the festival is expected to bring the art of puppetry closer to the public in the southern region, as well as international tourists, thereby contributing to preserving and promoting the cultural value of the unique traditional art form.-VNA