On the evening of August 30, thousands of audience members packed the stage area at Hue City’s Culture and Sports Square, immersing themselves in the vibrant atmosphere of Hue Wonderverse Music Fest 2026 - an international heritage and music festival featuring a lineup of renowned singers.

With a width of around 80m, the Hue Wonderverse Music Fest 2026 stage is considered the largest ever built for the festival, with capacity for over 50,000 spectators. Construction and installation are being expedited to ensure everything is ready for the two concert nights on August 30 and September 1.

By day, they are music teachers, bakers, or bartenders; by night, they become singers and musicians on small stages of coffee shops and community music nights. It is this very passion that helps many young people in Hue keep the flame of music alive, contributing to an accessible and vibrant live music scene.

Hue is a heritage city, but Hue’s cultural strength does not lie solely in its citadel, palaces, royal tombs, or historic architecture. Behind these tangible forms of heritage lies a vibrant world of music, festivals, beliefs, traditional crafts, cuisine, clothing, and folk knowledge. This is the ‘soul’ that gives Hue its distinctive identity.

By hosting the Hue Heritage and International Music Festival 2026 - Hue Wonderverse Music Fest 2026, which is scheduled from August 30 to September 1, alongside the National Day Holiday on September 2, Hue City is expected to witness a surge in tourist arrivals. This may lead to a local ‘fully booked’ situation at certain peak times. Drawing from the experience of the last April 30 - May 1 holiday, the local tourism sector is developing plans to enhance its reception capacity and service quality.

After decades spent living almost solely in the memories of elderly artisans, Hue traditional musical notation system - the notation system tied to royal court music (Nha nhac) - is being revived and gradually digitized.

As the clear, pure notes of the flute rang out after meticulous carving and tuning, a bright smile lit up Mr. Nguyen Van Tam’s face. Devoting over a decade to simple bamboo pipes, the young craftsman, born in 1993, with his deft hands and sharp ear has quietly "awakened" the sounds of traditional musical instruments, steadfastly preserving a heritage craft amid modern life.

One day in mid-July, Vo Que, the poet, and the Hue City Museum of History jointly launched his publication of ‘Loi ca chau ngoc’ (tentative translation: Exquisite Lyrics). Many audience members could not help but be moved by the heartfelt devotion of a man deeply attached to Ca Hue (Hue-Singing music).

Hue Festival has established the city as a prominent destination on the international cultural map. With Wonderverse Music Fest, Hue is taking a new approach: using music, technology, and creativity to tell the story of its heritage while aiming to build a distinctive festival intellectual property (IP) that will become a signature brand for the city.

More than 10 years after winning a prize at Sao Mai 2013, Dr. Nguyen Hoang Tinh Uyen returned to a professional music competition and won the Gold Prize in the Vocal category at the Crescendo International Music Festival 2026. For her, the award not only marked her return to the stage but also gave her renewed motivation to continue conducting research, performing, and inspiring her students through music. ​