 Pham Tuan Long, Chairman of the Hoan Kiem district People's Committee. (Photo: Thuy Tien/ VOV) |
Following the success of the 2022 and 2023 editions, this year’s Hanoi Creative Design Festival continues to inspire people to generate new ideas and initiatives. It introduces a new form of public engagement – organizing festival spaces along a route, which allows participants to trace the history of Hanoi's iconic buildings and monuments.
The main venue is August Revolution Square, with its north-south axis stretching from Ly Thai To Street to Le Thanh Tong Street and its east-west axis from Bac Co to Trang Tien Street. The area includes the Hanoi Children's Palace, the Government Guest House (formerly Tonkin Palace), Hanoi Opera House, and the Vietnam National Museum of History.
Hoan Kiem district, one of the original urban districts of Hanoi, features architectural and other urban works constructed in the early 20th century in several distinct heritage areas – the Old Quarter, the Hoan Kiem lake area, and the old French quarter. Many of these structures have historical, architectural, or artistic importance, said Pham Tuan Long, Chairman of the Hoan Kiem district People's Committee.
Several of them – the State Bank headquarters, the Government Guest House, and the Indochina University building (now the University of Natural Sciences and the University of Pharmacy) – were added to the tour this year, said Long.
The festival’s diverse activities encourage young people to preserve and promote the structures and the national values they represent, and provide a basis for Hanoi’s claim to be a national hub of creativity.
 Architect Nguyen Hong Quang, the principal designer of the festival. (Photo: Thuy Tien/ VOV) |
Architect Nguyen Hong Quang, the principal designer of the festival, said, “When we selected the seven clusters of architectural heritage sites, we created two intersecting axes. August Revolution Square connects and stretches out in different directions, giving access to different heritage sites.”
Some 100 events are taking place within the framework of the festival – installations, exhibitions, performances, interactive experiences, and talks and seminars featuring domestic and international experts in creative fields. According to Nguyen Thi Le Quyen, Director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Promotion Center of Vietnam, this is the third year the Center has participated in the festival.
“We brought two new artworks to this year’s festival. One is the performance ‘Thi Mau Travels through Time”, adapted from the traditional Cheo play ‘Quan Am Thi Kinh’. That performance is dedicated to education, culture, heritages, and traditional arts. The second work is an interactive show in which we explore folk songs, rhymes, and traditional games,” said Quyen.
The festival hopes to get people to appreciate Vietnam’s history and carry on the cultural traditions and creativity of previous generations.
The scale of the Hanoi Creative Design Festival continues to expand year after year. It’s a celebration for everyone who loves creativity.