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| Tourists viewing the lotus leaf conical hat weaving demonstration |
Stretching along the Huong River, nearly 70 craft villages and over 350 artisans, and the skilled hands of famous craft villages nationwide, have gathered in Hue to exhibit and demonstrate their crafts at Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2023.
The mark of the artisan's skilled hands
The Cham people in Ninh Thuan are famous for their three traditional craft villages, including the traditional medicine craft in Phuoc Nhon village, the pottery craft in Bau Truc village, and the brocade weaving craft in My Nghiep village. Among these three craft villages, the Cham brocade weaving village of My Nghiep is known as a unique feature of the Cham people's artistic talent and has a strong attraction.
Participating for the fourth time in showcasing and demonstrating their craft at the Hue Traditional Craft Festival, the Cham brocade weaving stall of artisan Thuan Thi Tru attracted many tourists.
"Recently, due to fierce competition in the market, it has been difficult to sell brocade products. However, at Hue Traditional Craft Festival, our craft village products such as fabrics, scarves, bags, and animal figurines were chosen by customers and we have also found distributors in Hue City and Quang Binh province. So, we are very happy," shared artisan Thuan Thi Tru.
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| Introducing products to tourists |
Reviving through Hue Traditional Craft Festivals and turning pottery products into a traditional craft tourism brand, Phuoc Tich pottery has prepared more than 80 product samples for this year's festival, including many new products that will debut in the market, such as ceramic necklaces, ceramic paintings, wind chimes, and animal figurines.
According to Mr. Luong Thanh Hien, owner of Phuoc Tich pottery, Hue Traditional Craft Festival is truly an opportunity for traditional crafts and villages where products are introduced and promoted to many tourists, creating a wide market, and receiving many valuable orders. Also from the Traditional Craft Festival, Phong Dien district has formed the ‘Ancient Fragrance – Old Village’ Tour to promote the socio-economic development of the area in general and the development and expansion of traditional craft products in particular.
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| Demonstration of the silk weaving process |
As part of the activities at Hue Festival 2023, a space for displaying and introducing products, honoring artisans and traditional handicraft villages has been arranged along Nguyen Dinh Chieu pedestrian street and Tu Tuong Park. This space brings together 21 craft groups with the participation of 69 traditional villages, craft establishments, and over 350 skilled artisans from famous traditional handicraft villages across the country.
The display and arrangement of the space are quite beautiful, with dozens of stalls showcasing handicrafts such as woodcarvings, ceramics, bronze casting, paper flowers, and Ao dai, … all in striking colored so that tourists can freely admire and capture memorable moments during the festival. This year's Hue Festival also has significant meaning as many traditional craft establishments have faced a goods stagnation due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this is an opportunity to stimulate production and consumption.
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| The stalls are decorated to showcase the traditional craft villages for tourists to "check-in" |
According to artisan Nguyen Viet Nam, after a long period of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, many products of traditional craft villages have accumulated due to difficulty in consumption, so Hue Traditional Craft Festival this year is an opportunity for exhibitors to showcase and promote their products, as well as search for valuable orders to stimulate production. After 3 days, the number of visitors coming to visit and buy the Pho Trach bamboo mattresses was relatively high, and they have also signed large orders.
Mr. Tran Song, Vice Chairman of Hue City’s People's Committee, emphasized that with the goal of restoring, preserving and promoting the quintessence of traditional handicraft products of Hue in particular and the whole country in general, the exhibition space, product introduction, and honoring artisans and craft villages are the highlights of Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2023. It is also one of the 11 main programs taking place at the festival and is situated on the romantic and poetic banks of the Huong River. After 3 days, the revenue at the establishments reached nearly 2 billion VND, of which many establishments had high sales, such as Thai Vinh Artistic Handicrafts, Loc Mai Hue Fig Tea, and Bup Sen establishment, ...