Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – The biennial Hue TraditionalCraft Festival has established itself as a big economic and cultural eventthanks to the display of unique traditional crafts of not only Vietnam but alsoother countries.

The eighth edition of the festival will be heldin Hue city, the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, from April 26 to May 2.

Chairman of the Hue People’s Committee NguyenVan Thanh, head of the festival’s organising board, said in recent years,relevant agencies have worked to promote the scale of this event by invitingartisans of famous traditional crafts in several countries.

He noted 68 artisans from eight cities that havetwinning and cooperative relationships with Hue, along with some craft andbusiness associations from Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), China and Brazilhave confirmed to attend this year’s festival.

Gyeongju city of the RoK has taken part in thefestival since 2015, introducing its traditional arts of hair and potterymaking. At the 2017 event, Dongnae – another city of the RoK – grabbedvisitors’ attention with a diversity of handicrafts like Korean knots,necklaces, lacquerware, and traditional dolls.

Besides exhibiting traditional handicrafts, theRoK also organised film screening and exchanges with its directors, actors andactresses at the Hue festival.

Cultural identities of the RoK will continue tobe introduced at this year’s festival by artisans from Gyeongju, Dongnae, theKorean Traditional Arts and Craft Association, and other associations.

They will show not only products but also theprocesses of crafting bronze trays, the traditional Korean dress of Hanbok, andhanji (paper) products. Notably, mother-of-pearl inlaid and lacquered objectsof Namyangju city, Gyeonggi province, will also be displayed.

Meanwhile, Japan has participated in the HueTraditional Craft Festival since 2013, when Saijo city impressed visitors withits traditional dress and cuisine. This city returned to the 2015 festival withmany signature products like the kimono and traditional paper handicrafts,including dolls, lanterns and envelops, thus attracting the interest ofvisitors and local residents.

Besides Saijo, other cities such as Takayama andShizuoka, along with businesses from Japan, also showcased their country’straditional crafts at the subsequent festival in 2017.

The upcoming event promises to feature many moreunique handicrafts from Saijo, Takayama and Sasayama cities.

The organising board said this year’s festivalwill also see the presence of representatives from Konya city of Turkey, SãoLuís city of Brazil and Jiangsu province of China.-VNA