Festival Honors Hue Traditions

HCM CITY — Hue will host its first-ever traditional arts festival in mid-July, celebrating time-honored Vietnamese crafts such as embroidery and conical hat making, a city representative has announced.

Nguyen Duy Hien, head of Hue’s Information and Culture Office, said the festival would showcase the skills of local artisans who have been honing their crafts for decades, aiming to boost their status and creative role and generate local interest in traditional crafts.

Hien said traditional crafts are slowly becoming obsolete as industrial mass-market goods have taken the market share of the typically made-to-order products.

The festival will be attended by embroidery artisans from Ha Tay, Da Lat and Long Xuyen, and conical hat makers from Hue, Vinh, Ha Tay and Ha Noi.

Ancient embroidered items which belonged to the Imperial Court and local people during Hue’s period as Viet Nam’s capital, along with embroidery formerly used in theatrical performances and ceremonies, will be on display.

At the Royal Fine Arts Museum, visitors will be able to see restored clothing from the Nguyen Dynasty with explanations of the restoration process, observe centuries-old weaving techniques, and learn the processes involved in conical hat production.