 Le Van Phuoc, Vice Chairman of An Giang province’s People’s Committee, speaks at the festival (Photo: VOV) |
The occasion marked the 10th anniversary of the festival being recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The Festival, which will run until next Monday, includes music and art performances, photo exhibitions, lantern release contests, cuisine, a track and field competition, and dragon dances.
Le Van Phuoc, Vice Chairman of An Giang province’s People’s Committee, said: “An Giang province wants to make the Via Ba Chua Xu Festival a large-scale cultural and tourism event. We also aim to build the province’s cultural and tourism products based on national cultural values and promote exchanges, creating opportunities to connect cultural heritages between localities nationwide.”
The government has approved An Giang province’s dossier asking UNESCO to recognize the Festival as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The dossier will be considered at the UNESCO session this December.