The unique festival aims to preserve traditional Vietnamese culture and build international cultural friendships.

The Vietnamese Traditional Culture Festival and International Cultural Exchange will be held from April 5 to 9 at the historic Thang Long Citadel in Hanoi, showcasing beauty of Ao Dai and handicraft products.

According to Chairwoman of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Conservation and Development Club Ho Nhu Quynh, the festival is also a place to connect Vietnamese people with international friends.

About 300 enterprises attend the festival displaying traditional Vietnamese and international items  creating a venue for handicraft enterprises to meet and exchange. The organizing broad expects to welcome 80,000 - 100,000 visitors during five-day festival.

On the first night of the festival, visitors will be treated to a fest of culture manifestations of Vietnam's three regions with special performances directed by renowned stage director Van Nguyen and a puppet show entitled "Country’s Soul" by director and People's Artist Vuong Duy Bien.

In addition, the festival will feature Ao Dai collection and other unique folk throughout the five days festival. Thirty embassies and general consular representatives will also participate in.

The highlight is the ornate space of Thang Long Citadel, which recreates old Vietnamese landscapes with bamboo trees, wells, thatched roof houses, craft villages, and rural markets. A miniature of the royal space and the emperors’ dressing room will also be built. Other activities include cultural research seminars on feng shui art, ancestor worship rituals, and Mother Goddess rituals will be held.

In addition, the organizing committee plans to recreate rituals to honor the emperor as well as pray for country’s security and prosperity on April 7, to mark the death anniversary of Emperor Ly Cong Uan (974 - 1028).

Hanoitimes