Hue Today Issue No. 473 brings readers a wide range of notable stories covering politics, the economy, culture, and social welfare, with in-depth features highlighting Hue City's efforts to attract investment, promote its cultural heritage, expand urban space, and improve residents' quality of life.

For the very first time, Hue City will host the Hue Wonderverse Fest 2026 - an International Music and Heritage Festival envisioned to develop into an intellectual property (IP) annual cultural and music festival of the city.

On the afternoon of July 8th, at Co Mat Vien - Tam Toa, Hue Festival 2026 Organizing Committee officially launched the photography contest ‘Hue - Ancient Capital, New Experiences’. The competition is part of Hue Festival 2026 and aims to promote Hue as a city of heritage, culture, ecology, scenic beauty, and hospitality to both domestic and international audiences.

Having withstood countless historical upheavals, tens of thousands of precious Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2009, becoming Viet Nam’s first World Documentary Heritage. They are currently preserved under strict archival conditions at the National Archives Center No. IV in Da Lat (now located in Cam Ly Ward, Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province).

On July 4, the Hoa Chau Ward People’s Committee welcomed and held a working session with a delegation from Cergy City (French Republic), led by Ms. Malika Yebdri, First Deputy Mayor of Cergy in charge of Culture, Cultural Heritage, and International Cooperation.

From mega music festivals attracting thousands of young audiences to community arts programs spreading across social media, Hue is revealing a new face as a heritage city.

On June 19th, a working delegation from Tuyen Quang Provincial People's Committee, led by Vice Chairwoman of Tuyen Quang Provincial People's Committee Vuong Ngoc Ha, had a meeting with Hue City People's Committee to exchange experience in heritage management, preservation, and promotion in connection with tourism development and cultural industries.

Cultural industries, based on knowledge, creativity, identity, and technology, are emerging as one of the key growth drivers for many nations. In this context, placing culture at the center of development strategy - as expressed in the spirit of Resolution 80-NQ/TW dated January 7, 2026, of the Politburo on the development of Vietnamese culture - is not merely a political orientation but an inevitable imperative of the era. ​

On the afternoon of June 11, Standing Vice Chairman of Hue City People’s Committee Hoang Hai Minh, along with representatives of local departments and agencies, had an official meeting with a delegation from Fundación Metrópoli of Spain, led by Dr. Alfonso Vegara Gomez, the organization’s Founder and President, to explore strategic orientations for urban planning and sustainable heritage urban development of Hue.

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.