Basic HTML Version
What is the main highlight of the Hue
Festival 2014?
The festival’s theme, Cultural Her-
itage with Integration and Develop-
ment, will feature re-enactments of
royal celebrations, and performances
by art troupes from over 30 countries.
It will also honour Hue’s royal music
and folk songs.
How will the people from remote ar-
eas be able to enjoy Hue Festival?
This year the festival will continue
to visit remote districts and towns of
Thua Thien-Hue. Art troupes will per-
form for local people there. What’s
more, we are going to bring festive
moments to many other people of the
province in industrial zones, in schools
and even in hospitals. We aim to put on
a festival which is modern, imposing,
impressive, safe and humanitarian.
The Hue Festival is also a chance to
attract tourists to Thua Thien-Hue.
Can you predict the volume of tour-
ists that will arrive?
We will see a rise of from 15 to 20
per cent, meaning 200,000 visitors to
Hue, half of which will be foreigners.
Hue now has 526 hotels which can
accommodate 18,000 tourists. Moreo-
ver, we have home-stays which can
accommodate 3,000 tourists. So, we
feel confident about the accommoda-
tion capability of the province. We are
well prepared.
In 2013, we welcomed 3 million
tourists, of which 1 million were in-
ternational tourists. The festival is an
opportunity to promote tourism in a
province where it accounts for 55 per
cent of GDP.
How can you ensure social security
and order during the festival?
Over the previous seven festivals
the authorities have managed this
well. Previously, a French reporter for-
got a laptop, but local people found
it and got it back to him. On another
occasion, Mr Jorge Rondon Uzcategui
– Ambassador of Bolivar Venezuela
Republic to Vietnam - helped us catch
the thief who stole an Argentinian’s
cell phone.
Besides, we also pay great atten-
tion to providing safe sources of food
to avoid food poisoning and epidemic
diseases.
How do you aim to encourage peo-
ple to get involved in the festival’s
activities?
We usually encourage local people
to join the festival through boat rac-
ing, kite flying and street festivals. This
year, there will be special ‘night streets’
around the imperial citadel which
promise to attract many local people.
In terms of getting people to join
in, I think firstly we can help people
benefit from the event by selling their
products. The products of local people
range widely from food to handcrafts.
Secondly, the festival must provide
them spiritual and cultural value via art
performances. Everyone, from a cyclo
driver to a porridge seller, will be ex-
cited when the festival comes.
The 8th Hue Festival will be
held during April featuring
re-enactments of unique
royal celebrations together
with a wide range of exciting
community activities.
Ngo
Hoa
, vice chairman of Thua
Thien-Hue province People’s
Committee and head of The
Festival’s Organising Board talks to
Hong Nhung
about what visitors can expect.
timeout
35
Capital of culture
THUA THIEN-HUE IN THE SPOTLIGHT