(VNS) The Second National Magic Festival, held at Ha Noi's National Circus Theatre, lured illusionists from across the country for a three-day extravaganza of magical performances. On Monday, the best performers received prizes from a panel of five jurors including Doctor of Arts Hoang Minh Khanh, head of the Viet Nam Circus Arts and Vaudeville Secondary School, who spoke to Culture Vulture about the development of magical performances in Viet Nam.

Can you talk about the festival's significance?

The second national festival brought together the best illusionists from across the country. At the beginning, we expected about 30 performances – many more than the first festival in 2008. However, due to various reasons, the number of performances was reduced to 13.

Some performances had a real sense of artistry. They felt like performance art more than magic tricks.

Could you compare the performances and performers with those from the first festival?

First, I saw an increasing number of young illusionists attending this year's festival. About two-thirds of the illusionists that competed in the first festival were replaced by younger performers. I think this is a good sign; however, magic also requires skills, which take veteran illusionists years to develop. The young illusionists may not have such experience, but they do make magic more artistic.

Viet Nam has many renowned illusionists like Bao Thu and Z27. Could you add anyone else to the list?

Z27 is irreplaceable. He is one of the best students of veteran illusionist Bao Thu, who has been pulling rabbits out of hats for over 50 years, although he's most renowned for his diligently trained white doves – smart birds that emerge from his sleeve or perch in a line on his shoulder upon command.

He is known in magic circles as The King of Doves, a reference to an act he performed for years where he made 28 doves appear on stage at the same time.

He has devoted his life to learning magic and trained many illusionists in the south.

The illusionist was awarded a Doctor of Magic Degree by the International Magicians Society last October – a great honour for Vietnamese illusionists.

Ngoc Vien and Z27 (Nguyen Duc Truong) represent the next generation of illusionists.

Thanks to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, magic has been able to develop a rich following in the country. What should Vietnamese illusionists do to be recognised all over the world?

It is very difficult to gain recognition in the world without winning international awards. Modern society is governed by technology, so all the skills in the world can't compensate for the lack of modern equipment and technology.

In Viet Nam, illusionists do not get enough money from ticket sales to modernise their performances.

As head of the Viet Nam Circus Arts and Vaudeville Secondary School, what will you do to develop magic in Viet Nam?

Magic will be taught as an independent subject in the Viet Nam Circus Arts and Vaudeville Secondary School's Vaudeville Department when it gets upgraded to college status after 2013.

Although we will work on developing magical entertainment across the country, the sad truth is that we ultimately do not have enough financial resources to develop on a large scale like other genres of art.— VNS