(VOVworld) – The 2014 Hue festival will open on April 12^th under the theme “Cultural Heritage with Integration and Development”.

A press conference on the 2014 Hue festival (Source: VOV)

At a press conference on Thursday in Hanoi, organizers said this continues to be a special cultural event in the framework of the forum for East Asia and Latin America cultural exchange initiated by the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Nguyen Van Thanh, Deputy Head of the festival’s organizing board, said the festival will showcase traditional and contemporary art performances by leading art troupes from 30 countries. It is the convergence of the cultures of the ancient capital of Vietnam and of other cities around the world: "The 8^th Hue festival is closely associated with cultural and historic events of Hue and of the nation. It is the combination of culture, tourism, and art activities and is a large-scale event of high community spirit. The festival will provide an impetus to the economic development of Thua Thien-Hue province and promote the trademark of Hue festival which has been widely recognized. 2014 is a significant milestone for Hue, which will celebrate the 115^th anniversary of Truong Tien bridge and Dong Ba market and the 115^th anniversary of Hue’s semi-public school". 

According to the organizing board, the 2014 Hue festival will revitalize royal festivals and community cultural activities and will last 9 days. The program will include kite flying, installation art, street art performances, an international trade fair and food fair. During the festival period, a meeting of the ASEAN Ministers of Culture and Arts (AMCA) and a meeting of AMCA plus 3 partners (Japan, the Republic of Korea, and China) will also be held.

The festival is expected to attract 200,000 visitors, half of whom foreigners.