The festival, jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Hanoi People's Committee, will take place from October 1st to 4th at Thang Long Imperial Citadel - a World Cultural Heritage site. The event aims to celebrate the power of culture in connecting people, promoting dialogue, friendship, and peace.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra ; Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Lam Thi Phuong Thanh, along with other delegates, attended the program.
Attending the opening ceremony were Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra; Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Lam Thi Phuong Thanh; Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Vu Dai Thang; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ngo Le Van; Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department Bui Hoai Son; Mr. Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, along with Ambassadors, representatives of diplomatic agencies, international organizations and domestic and international art troupes.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra delivered the opening remarks for the program.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra emphasized the significance of holding the festival at Thang Long Imperial Citadel, in the year commemorating the 50th anniversary of Vietnam's membership in UNESCO. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, this is a meaningful space for cultures to meet, interact, preserve, transmit, and create new values.
“Heritage is the memory of each nation, the crystallization of intellect, labor, and creativity over thousands of years of history. But heritage does not belong only to the past,” the Deputy Prime Minister stated, affirming that heritage values are present in present life and are an important resource for building the future.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, in the context of digital technology and artificial intelligence changing the way people create, receive, and disseminate cultural values, preservation needs to be linked with promotion, tradition with creativity, heritage with contemporary life, and culture with people and development.
Party and State leaders and delegates performed a special ceremony to inaugurate the festival.
This year's festival features participation from 50 countries and international organizations, with 45 cultural spaces, 35 food stalls, 18 countries registering film screening programs, and 19 international art troupes with 220 artists from 5 continents.
Mr. Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, delivered a speech at the ceremony.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr. Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, said that the festival is a testament to the vitality of culture when people interact, share, and open themselves to other cultures.
According to Mr. Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Thang Long Imperial Citadel is a particularly suitable space for organizing events, as the relics preserve archaeological layers spanning more than a millennium, reflecting the continuous progress of political and cultural life.
The opening ceremony featured spectacular artistic performances.
The highlight of the opening night was the artistic program, divided into layers of content, beginning with "Thang Long Festival" using sound, light, and 3D mapping technology. Following that, the "Vietnam Convergence" section showcased traditional cultural elements through Quan Ho folk songs from Bac Ninh, Hue royal court dance, "Song of the Southern Land," and other performances reflecting Vietnamese culture.
The stage also featured performances by artists from various other countries.
The stage also featured performances by artists from China, Laos, Pakistan, Indonesia, Peru, Cambodia, Israel, Ukraine, Bangladesh, and Azerbaijan, creating a multinational artistic exchange space.
Traditional elements continue to be connected with contemporary music through performances such as "Bac Bling," "Made in Vietnam," and the medley of "Hanoi Xam" and "Phu Dong Thien Vuong - Nguoi Oi Nguoi O Dung Ve," featuring many Vietnamese artists.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Lam Thi Phuong Thanh visited the National Cultural Spaces of the participating countries.
Through art, the opening ceremony creates a journey from traditional cultural values to contemporary approaches, thereby expressing the festival's spirit of "Converging Heritage - Shaping the Future".
Over the four days of the festival, international cultural, culinary, performing arts, film, and fashion spaces are showcased at the historical site, bringing contemporary cultural colors to a space steeped in Hanoi's history.
From the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the second World Cultural Festival in Hanoi opens up four days of international cultural, artistic, and experiential exchange, aiming to build a space for dialogue, connection, and cooperation between cultures.
Le Viet Hoang
Vntravel.org.vn
Source: https://vntravel.org.vn/ha-noi-khai-mac-le-hoi-van-hoa-the-gioi-lan-thu-hai-nam-2026-a9916.html?gidzl=FX4yR03uf4iz2Jrf2UQiJ3KDDcuMjAqO8bCoD1sq_4Ls2J9bG-V_4dS1OMP2xQX6B0CvC3SDtwWL0VgXIm
