Festival Hue 2018 | Public Cultural Event

When people ponder on what image that the city of Hue may draw in their heads, they are likely to recall the pre-eminence of a typical Asian culture expressed through the divine architecture of the state-of-art. Although there may be a few who regard the existence of the city in another sense, presuming the core of the Central cultural entertainment, rarely do they find the harmony in both. Hence, if what is being sought is where culture is accompanied by the help of advanced technology exposed through the means of entertainment, Hue Festival is a perfect example.

This year, the city makes a wholly refreshing comeback with another annual 2-year event – Hue Festival 2018.

Disregarding the different expressions in forms of entertainment used to celebrate, the meaning of such profound event as Hue Festival 2018 is to honor the one-and-only, the rich and the delicate culture foundation of the city in particular and the whole country in general.

There is nothing much to be found in the deep down history of the Festival itself apart from what has just been told above. However, it is recorded until now by the official festival’s site that the original former of Festival Hue was known as Festival Vietnam-France, which was first held in 1992 by Hue city and Codev Viet Phap in Thua Thien Hue Province. Succeeding the unexpected success of the 1992 Viet-France Festival, the official Festival Hue was passed in October 1998 with the corporation between Thua Thien Hue and French Embassy in Vietnam. Later on, the festival was then held for the first time in 2000 under the name ‘Festival Hue’ as you may hear until now.

Been through exactly 18 years of growth, maturity and earning credit, Festival Hue 2018 still keeps and treasures perfectly the core value of what the original festival might aim at – culture and heritage. Through years and years, people have waited, have expected and have hoped for a new coming of the festival, and they have also kept in mind a question: “Will this time be different from the formers?” The answer is easy: Yes and no. From the view of the form of entertainment or closer to the shows delivered, it is easily seen that Festival Hue is upgraded and refurbished from years to years.

The only thing that stays unchanged is the message brought and delivered: The exploration of the past and the worshiping of culture. With the main theme “Cultural Heritage with Integration and Development, Hue – one destinations, five world heritages”, the festival has succeeded in the very first stage of showing the world “who we are”, “what we do” and “what this is about”.

From 27^th April to 2^nd May 2018, the festival was held as either a national or an international event. This tenth event is the profound inheritance of what has been done and what has been successful through the last 9 seasons of the festival. Not only does Hue Festival is the combination of both old and new, it is also a meaningful playground, “the intersection” of many cultures around the world, disregard of conceptions, religious systems and the expressions of art. Not stopping there, this is of course, also the showcase of Vietnamese culture in general and Hue’s characteristics in particular to the world and by far enthuses the development of tourism and international integration of the country.

This is also a very precious event for whoever craves in exploring the deep culture of Vietnam and Hue City. In the show, you will once again experience and encounter numerous events of the past accompanied the city in its history and growth. In those, you may find the interest in the 50^th Anniversary of Mau Than Spring Rebel (1968), 230^th Anniversary of Nguyen Hue’s Enthronement at Ban Mountain (1788), 25 years from 1993 when Hue Citadel Complex was first recognized as the world’s cultural heritage by the UNESCO, and so on. The festival was held all day long for the total 7 days and was divided to many different stages, at which you might find yourself a great show to enjoy or just simply harmonized with the profound atmosphere and sensation of the city and what the festival might bring. Usually, between each show is an interval of 30 minutes to an hour. Therefore, you can make use of this spare time to wander around and enjoy the spectacular forms of heritage, both material and immaterial that you can find during the whole show in the whole week. The Festival Hue 2018 might have ended but 2020 may promise a greater and better show for you to once again sink yourself in “the intersection of culture”.

To see more photos, check the open album below:
(Please use the left/right arrows to navigate in the files of the open album)

Night Performances

Thanh Toan tile-roofed bridge 

Street performances

Words by Trang Nguyen

Photos by Dang Hoang (more photos of Hue here)

Read HUE TRAVEL GUIDE here

HUE TRAVEL GUIDE