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Festival mood: From top, participants in the Long Bien Bridge Festival represent various ethnic groups in Viet Nam; travelling minstrel Nguyen Tri Hai entertains the crowds; artists perform a dragon dance, one of the many social activities to promote traditional culture and respect for the 108-year-old bridge. — VNA/ VNS Photos Thanh Ha | |
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HA NOI — For this year's Long Bien Bridge Festival, the 108-year-old construction, was decorated in the style of an ascending dragon, pertaining to the capital's former name, Thang Long.
The two-day festival opened on Saturday, drawing hundreds of people to the social activities and artwork on display.
Festival organiser Nguyen Nga said the fact that preparations had been finished on time was a miracle.
She said that many big shows had been cancelled and moved to next year's festival. The event was scheduled for October 10 but put back a month to accommodate the events organised in October to celebrate Ha Noi's 1,000th anniversary.
"I think that many people had been looking forward to the festival. Festivals organised during the ten-day celebrations for the 1,000th anniversary were for guests and officials only. The Long Bien Bridge Festival was an event for ordinary people, supported by the people," Nga said.
Last year, Ha Noi authorities approved her idea of holding a festival each year to celebrate the city's liberation day (October 10). This was truly an event for the people as up to 80-90 percent of participants had never visited a gallery before. They were also surpassed by ca tru (ceremonial singing) performances and installation art that were provided for their entertainment.
"The Long Bien Bridge Festival is an important way of introducing Vietnamese culture to the world and popularising contemporary arts created by both domestic and foreign artists," said Do Quy Doan, deputy minister of Information and Communication.
"I highly appreciate Nguyen Nga's idea of holding the festival," said Nguyen Thanh Son, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs.
"The festival expressed the heart of Nga, an overseas Vietnamese, who wants to introduce the culture and history of Viet Nam to our international friends. All the activities were aimed at respecting the bridge, a symbol of Vietnamese bravery and patriotism."
Many activities were held at either end of the bridge, to cater for those waiting for their turn to get onto it. On the Hoan Kiem District bank of the bridge, an area representing the 19th century, with a set for concerts, dancing, traditional theatre, kiosks, traditional handicraft stands, and a fashion show of costumes from previous centuries were all on display.
On the other side of the bridge in Gia Lam District, a space representing the 21st century with similar attractions was on show, with a cinema screening movies about the history of the bridge.
This year, the 1,000-year history of the capital with images and information about the 70 countries and territories with representatives in Viet Nam were displayed on the 1,682m bridge.
"The bridge looked like an open book with information quoted from history books," said Nguyen Thi Hanh from Ngoc Thuy Ward, Gia Lam District.
"Everyday I sell food and drink on the bridge but it has become a venue for the festival, and I found it very interesting," she added.
Social activities
This year's festival was directed towards community activities including raising funds for flood victims in the central region, walking for peace and riding bicycles to promote environmental protection.
Dustbins where installed along the bridge to stop visitors throwing rubbish into the Hong (Red) River as they did last year.
"Through this festival, we hope that the people will become aware of the value of this historical bridge, which is a museum, a keepsake and a work of art that the world must know," Nga said.
Nga said that the number of visitors was restricted to a maximum of 3,000 at one time to ensure safety. Police officers and 300 volunteers were selected to guard the bridge and assist visitors. Last year 50,000 people took part in the festival. — VNS