(VOVWORLD) - The Autumn Festival, one of four major events of the Hue Festival 2023, is taking place with many unique and impressive activitiesin many localities in Thua Thien-Hue province. The Autumn Festival from July to September features 12 main events, including an International Fine Arts Exhibition, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Festival, an exhibition of royaltreasures of Khai Dinh Dynasty (1885-1925), the Hue Nam Palace Festival, a traditional boat race on the Huong (Perfume) River, an International Lantern Festival, the Hue Ao Dai Festival, Hue Community Ao Dai Week, and the Hue Traditional Ao Dai Night Festival.
 A scene of the Hue Ao dai Festival. (Photo: VOV) |
The opening ceremony on August 12 themed “Hue Ao dai – A story of the river” introduced hundreds of sets of Ao dai, the traditional long dress.
“Quang Hoa Ao dai brand brings here two collections. One collection tells a story of the Huong river and the Hue imperial citadel. The other collection has a modern style featuring the cross-culture of Vietnam and the West. The two collections show the changes of Ao dai through periods,” said Tran Quang Hoa of ThuaThien-Hue.
The Ao dai Festival has been a highlight of the Hue Festival over the last 20 years, according to Nguyen Thanh Binh, Vice Chairman of the ThuaThien-Hue provincial People’s Committee and head of the organizing board.
“The Ao dai show tells a story of the Huong river. The backstage is the Royal Palace and the Huong river banks. The Ao dai collections are very beautiful, and tell the story from the upstream to downstream. This is a new concept to promote the Ao dai in association with the local culture, history, and traditions,” he said.
The Ao dai is a typical cultural heritage of the Hue former citadel, which has existed and developed for more than 300 years. During the Autumn Festival, there is an Ao dai Night Festival, which is a multi-media art program combining music performance, fashion show, and many traditional art forms of Vietnam and other countries. The event honors Ao dai and traditional handicrafts in Hue.
 People wear Ao dai during the Ao dai Community Week. (Photo: VOV) |
Visitors can contemplate many Ao dai collections by famous designers such as the collection by Tran Thien Khanh which feature the images of cranes, representing the pure and noble beauty of Vietnamese women; and the collection by Tran Hong Quang Hoa on jean material combining hand-woven patterns of ethnic minorities in the Northwest.
“In order to develop, the Vietnamese Ao Dai should inherit tradition and absorb modern characters. I want to convey a message that the Ao dai lives forever with time. Where there are Ao dais, there are Vietnamese people,” designer Pham Van Tuyen talkEd about his collection named "Returning to the ancient capital.”
The Ao dai Community Week took place in early July at Nghinh Luong Dinh relic site in Hue city. Several community events were held, including a bicycle parade with hundreds of people wearing Ao dai who are officials of the culture and tourism sector, artisans, and Hue residents. The Ao dai Community Week promotes Hue culture, especially toward the goal of turning Hue into an Ao Dai capital.
Tourists to Hue can join various activities to learn about the history of Ao dai, learn how to make an Ao dai, and have Ao dai tailored-made for themselves.
“I’m pressed with the Ao dai performance and story-telling of the Huong river. These activities are entertaining and informative. I hope that the Hue Festival will attract more tourists and help promote the Vietnamese brands to the world,” said Nguyen Huong, a tourist from Nghe An province.
The Hue Ao Dai Festival has honored, preserved, and promoted the traditional Vietnamese Ao dai in general, and Hue Ao dai brand in particular, to a wider public.