Special performances be held

The 2006 Hue Festival is considered a landmark to embrace the unique values of Hue, as well as Vietnamese culture through hundreds of festivity programmes.

An imposing art performance dedicated to Vietnamese cultural characteristics will raise the first curtain of the festival at Ngo Mon Square. The show is a convergence of professional local stage art, folk art and the modern firework art of foreign artist Pierre Alain Hubert.

In addition to Hue court music, the fiesta will also offer visitors a chance to enjoy Korean and Japanese court music performances. All the three types of music will echo impressively and solemnly in a subtle imperial palace festive night. The Royal Palace Night, featuring art performances, food and drink, and royal recreations, will revive the fanciful space of Hue Palace.

Besides, the festival will for the first time see performances featuring Central Highlands gong culture. The deep and subtle sound of the gong orchestra in combination with the time-honoured dances of people from the Central Highlands region will foster an amazing atmosphere.

Noteworthy is the Nam Giao Festival, a ceremony held in honour of the earth and sky, which is scheduled for June 10. Drawing the participation of nearly 600 people, the festival will breathe life into the magnificent and imposing scene of a traditional royal ceremony of Vietnam by featuring royal rituals and court music and royal dance performances.

Foreign artists to delight Hue Festival goers

Foreign and domestic tourists to the former imperial city of Hue from June 3-11 will have a chance to view various art performances, street art, installation arts and suspension gymnastics fusion shows by artists from Britain, France, Japan, Russia and the Republic of Korea.

On June 4, 5 and 7, British dancer Matilda Leyser will bring to Hue Festival goers a show entitled "Life passage and death point," telling a story of a conversation between a woman and a rope, her lifetime companion.

British artists will also present very special street art from their home country. They will make use of over 200m of sidewalk along the southern banks of Huong (Perfume) River to stage music shows and contemporary dances, displaying road graffiti, human statues and object arrangements by Vietnamese and British artists.

Meanwhile, a French art troupe plans to perform the drama "Circle of sand," which is a fusion of Vietnamese classical drama (Tuong) and contemporary theatrical French art.

"Peter Orins," a joint music show by Vietnamese and French artists, will entertain music lovers with a combination of American and European free jazz music and traditional court music of Hue.

Of particular interest to spectators is a performance of installation art combined with dancing by French sculptor Remy Polack from the Poitou Charentes region. The show is expected to present viewers with images of a get-together between humans and animals staged against the backdrop of an open, spacious area in the Imperial Palace of Hue city.

Russian artists will contribute to various shows during this year's festival with special folk dances of Russia and the Far Eastern region. There are also unique art performances by the Chinese Yunnan Theatre, which combines drama, singing, dancing and martial arts into one show.