Closing of Hue Festival 2014: Honoring traditional culture

After 9 days (April 12-20), Hue Festival 2014 officially ended on the evening of April 20 with an impressive closing ceremony.

The closing ceremony of Hue Festival was held at 8:30 p.m. at Cau Gia Hoi Park. Attending the event were Mr. Phan Dien - Former Politburo member, Standing member of the Secretariat; Mr. Hoang Tuan Anh - Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam; former leaders of the Party and State; Mr. Le Luong Minh - Secretary General of ASEAN, Ministers in charge of culture and arts of ASEAN countries, along with many artists, actors, tourists and people of Hue.

Closing Ceremony stage on the Perfume River, with the backdrop of Truong Tien Bridge lit by more than 3,000 candles

In his speech at the Closing Ceremony, Mr. Ngo Hoa, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thua Thien-Hue Province, Head of the Organizing Committee of Hue Festival 2014, reviewed the main activities of the Hue Festival such as the Opening Night, Oriental Night, Royal Night, Ao Dai Festival, the program honoring Hue songs "Am sac Huong Binh", Giao Sac ceremony, lighting fire at Truong Tien bridge, street festivals, the ASEAN +3 Culture Ministers' Conference...

With the participation of artists and actors from 37 countries across 5 continents, Hue Festival is massive in scale, diverse in genres and leaves many impressions in the hearts of visitors.

Through the Hue Festival, Mr. Ngo Hoa emphasized the opportunity to strengthen the solidarity and friendship of nations and peoples through cultural and artistic exchanges: “Although the performances of art troupes and groups are different, they all aim to honor traditional cultural values, demonstrating the spirit of exchange, solidarity, integration and development. Thereby, affirming the position of Hue as a typical Festival city of Vietnam, striving to be worthy of being one of the unique cultural and tourism centers of Vietnam”.

Set against the backdrop of Truong Tien Bridge, lit up with more than 3,000 candles, and a fireworks "party" by artists from France, the Closing Ceremony stage was uniquely designed as a floating stage on the poetic Huong River.

Hundreds of actors and thousands of people participated in the Closing Ceremony. With the theme “Echoes of a River”, the Closing Ceremony was an image of a poetic Hue, imbued with traditional culture but also strongly developing, a land of cultural harmony between Asian countries and the world.

The performances are an artistic fusion of nations.

The opening of the program included singing and dancing performances “Echo of a River”, dance “Scent of Lotus in the Citadel” and the song “Hue is Beautiful as Poetry” (Vu Minh Vu) praising the ancient beauty of the ancient capital.

Next is the dance "When the birds fly to", the performance "Tam Giang Improvisation", "Dia Khuc Giao Hoa" (Meritorious Artist Quang Vinh) as proof that Hue is an ASEAN city, a unique cultural convergence point, imbued with Oriental culture in the integration and development period but still retains its own identity.

Participating in the Closing Ceremony were international art troupes from Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia. The dances and songs on traditional music left an impression on the audience with their uniqueness, bearing the characteristics of the neighboring countries, along with the harmony in the dance “ASEAN Reunion”.

The program ended with “Hue Love Song”, “Charming Orient” (Vo Thien Thanh) and “Perfume River, farewell night” as a farewell to visitors and an appointment to meet again at Hue Festival 2016. Up to this point, Mr. Ngo Hoa also affirmed: “The 8th Hue Festival - 2014 was a great success, evaluated as a Festival: impressive, friendly, safe and full of humanity”.

According to VOV