Traditional Vietnamese crafts to converge on Hue
Friday, April 28, 2017, 17:15 GMT+7
A festival honoring various traditional Vietnamese crafts will commence this evening in the central city of Hue.
The 2017 Hue Festival of Traditional Crafts will kick off at 8:00 pm on Friday in Hue, the former capital of imperial Vietnam.
Over 320 artisans and other craftsmen from 40 different crafting villages across Vietnam will assemble at the event to showcase their skills.
The highlight of the festival will be 30 nha ruong, a type of Vietnamese antique panel house typically found in Hue, characterized by its use of cleverly cut hard wood as the sole building material, without need for nails or metal to join the different parts of the house frame together.
Nha ruong are quite low with steep roofing and no upper floors, closing the house to sunlight. To compensate for this shortcoming, many houses feature multiple doors to allow more natural light and air flow.
A typical nha ruong is often accompanied by a large garden, often used for owners to grow bonsai trees as a relaxing hobby.
During the festival, these traditional houses will be replicated by carpenters and wood carvers from Hue, and each will be used to accommodate artisans of other crafts.
Locals and tourists attending the festival will be treated to different crafts featured in each of the houses, ranging from pottery to the making of joss sticks and conical hats, among others.
The festival will also include exhibitions of traditional products at the Hue Cultural Museum and a ceremony to honor the founding fathers of all traditional crafts across Vietnam.
According to Nguyen Danh Thanh, deputy chairman of Hue City, the participation of artisans from other Asian countries, such as China, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, has led to double the amount of artisans featuring work at this year’s event, compared to the last one in 2015.
The 2017 Hue Festival of Traditional Crafts will run from April 28 to May 2m and the opening ceremony will be televised live on VTV2.
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