Artists perform lion and unicorn dance during the annual mid autumn festival in Hội An. (Photo: VNA)Quang Nam (VNA) - The ancient city of Hoi An will apply to list its annualmid autumn festival and the traditional pottery craft of Thanh Ha village as nationalintangible heritage.
Truong Chi Trung, director of the city’s Centre for CulturalHeritage Management and Preservation, told VietnamNews that the festival andthe craft have Hoi An roots going back over six centuries.
Truong Chi Trung, director of the city’s Centre for CulturalHeritage Management and Preservation, told VietnamNews that the festival andthe craft have Hoi An roots going back over six centuries.
“The annual mid autumn festival, which has thrived since Hoi Anbecame a busy trading port in the 14th century, has been preserved amongcommunity in the city’s downtown and rural area,” Trung said.
“The festival, which falls on full-moon day of the lunar August,is one of the most important and sacred events among locals, whether it isorganised downtown, in living quarters or in suburban villages,” he said.
He added that local residents have preserved the traditionaloffering with lion and union dance as ancestors did in past centuries.
The festival now lures more visitors watching local residents celebratingthe Full Moon Festival in front of houses on every corner of Hoi An on the 14thday of the eighth lunar month.
Lanterns often light up the houses, restaurants, cafés, shops andstreets of Hoi An during the festival. Candle-lit paper flowers are also bereleased on the Hoài River on that day.
Meanwhile, the pottery village of Thanh Ha, where terra-cotta hasplayed as a key role in trade for generations, has become the favouritedestination in Hoi An city.
The village, 5km away from Hoi An’s downtown, fully practices theold pottery lifestyle with deep known-how.
“Thanh Ha is one of the most traditional crafts villages incentral Vietnam. The village has been a major producer of earthen pots, bowls,bricks and tiles for central Vietnam since the 14th century,” Trung said.
The village, which is seen as a living museum of pottery, offerstourists a chance to explore the trade by practicing the craft with old pottersat their workshops.
He said the promotion of the festival and the craft would helppromote tourism and preserve the traditional culture value of Hoi An.
Last year, Kim Bong village’s carpentry craft in Hoi An wasrecognised as national intangible heritage.
Hoi An celebrated the arrival of its 10 millionth tourist at theold quarter’s Japanese Bridge last month.
The UNESCO-recognised world heritage site hosted 1.6 milliontourists last year, a 34 percent increase from 2015. -VNA
VNA
