Hanoi (VNA) ൩– A culture, tourism, and trade week kicked off in Van Phuc Silk Village in Ha Dong district, Hanoi on October 26, aiming to promote the traditional cultural values and attract more tourists to the locality.

Themed “Van Phuc, colours of integration”, the eight-day event features a series of activities, including a procession ceremony to honour the craft village’s ancestors, an exhibition to introduce Hanoi’s handicraft products, a show of “ao dai” (traditional long dress) made from local silk, an art performance programme, and a calligraphy contest. Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ha Dong district Pham Van Chien said through the event, the locality wants to introduce the unique cultural values of Van Phuc traditional silk village to domestic and foreign visitors, thus promoting its potential and strengths in the fields of creative design and cultural industry. The event, which is part of activities in the framework of the ongoing Vietnam Craft Villages Festival 2023 and Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2023, is hoped to promote attractive destinations and traditional festivals, intangible culture heritages, craft villages, and the culinary art of Hanoi, he added. With a history of more than 1,200 years, Van Phuc is proud to be the most ancient silk weaving village in Vietnam. Van Phuc silk once was used to make royal clothing and its silk items were favoured during the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 to 1945. Introduced at the Marseille International Trade Fair in 1931, Van Phuc silk became widely valued for its sophistication. Since 1990, Van Phuc silk has been exported to many countries around the world./.