From electric boat rides along the Ngu Ha River to ideas for night streets, culinary routes, and community cultural spaces, Phu Xuan Ward is gradually unlocking the potential of a “heritage ward”.

As part of the celebrations for Vesak 2570 (Buddhist Era) and Hue Festival 2026, the Vegetarian Food Festival - Hue Festival 2026 officially opened on the afternoon of May 28th (the 12th day of the fourth lunar month) at the riverside area along the Perfume River. The event is jointly organized by the Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in Hue City and the Organizing Committee of Hue Festival 2026.

In the depth of Hue culture, gardens are not merely green zones, acting as supporting elements for architecture, but a constituent factor shaping the urban identity. Hue is famous for the Perfume River, Mount Ngu, the Citadel, royal tombs, pagodas, and noble residences, but Hue is also well known for its gardens. In Hue, gardens soften architecture, calm the everyday life, deepen poetry, and create a unique urban style: a garden city, a city of poetry, the harmony between man and nature, or “an urban poem” as said by M’Bow, former Director-General of UNESCO.

With the trend of modern tourism development, the night-time economy is increasingly becoming a “golden opportunity” to enhance a destination’s appeal and extend visitors’ length of stay. In Thuan Hoa Ward, alongside the solutions to maximize the effectiveness of existing night streets, the project of a night street along the Nhu Y River is expected to create a boost, contributing to the vibrancy of urban nightscape.

As part of Hue Festival 2026, Hue International Music Week 2026 will take place from June 13 to 18 on the riverside stage along the Huong River, in front of Quoc Hoc Hue High School for the Gifted. The event is expected to become a major highlight of the Summer Festival, bringing together artists, dance troupes, and art troupes from Vietnam and many countries around the world.

On the evening of May 18, along the bank of the Huong River - section between Thuong Bac Park and Truong Tien Bridge, the third edition of the community music program “Di mo, nghe chi?” (“Where shall we go, what shall we listen to?”) took place in a romantic atmosphere, drawing large crowds of locals and visitors.

The exhibition “There is … a river” offers special emotions through the seemingly delicate yet endlessly expressive medium of watercolor painting.

“Half of the Vietnamese are in Hue” - a playful remark that has become a vivid expression of the strong appeal of tourism in the land of Huong River and Mount Ngu these days. Crowds are flocking to relic sites, pagodas, royal mausoleums, and eateries during the holidays, making the Ancient Capital more vibrant and lively.

More than half a century since the homeland’s liberation (March 26, 1975 – March 26, 2026), Hue’s urban landscape has undergone significant transformation, marked by newly widened roads, bridges spanning rivers and lagoons, modern urban zones, and an increasingly synchronized technical infrastructure system.

For many years, the development of waterway tourism has been a consistent goal, as the potential of Hue's rivers remained largely untapped. Following the City People's Committee's announcement of the inland waterway route on the Ngu Ha River, along with the pilot launch of heritage-linked tourism routes using electric boats on the Huong River and its tributaries, the local waterway tourism is expected to be unlocked.