Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2023 to awaken heritage sites

Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2023 will be held from November 17 to 26 in 17 districts of the capital city with more than 60 events.

Under the theme "Flow", this year's festival is expected to bring to life much of the capital's architectural heritage along the banks of the Red River through exhibitions, art-fashion shows, talk shows, and a seminar on cultural development.

Do Dinh Hong - Director of Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports speaks at the press conference. Photo: VNA

Activities will be held in Hanoi's iconic places such as Hang Dau Water Station, Long Bien Bridge, Gia Lam Train Factory, Hanoi Railway Station, Long Bien Station and others, or further in Nam Tu Liem and Bac Tu Liem districts, Son Tay town, Ba Vi and Hoai Duc rural districts.

Among them, Hang Dau Water Tower and Gia Lam Train Factory are two industrial heritage sites that many people know by name but have never had the opportunity to explore. Therefore, these two sites will be open for sightseeing and cultural activities.

There will be four trains to take passengers across the historic Long Bien Bridge, passing through Hanoi-Long Bien-Gia Lam stations. Each trip ticket will cost VND20,000 (US$0.8), with the Vietnam Railway Corporation covering the remaining costs.

At the press conference on November 13, Do Dinh Hong, director of Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports, said it is a suitable time to honor cultural values and heritage and promote cultural industries in the capital city.

"Hanoi is the convergence place of the elite and possesses a wealth of cultural heritage ranging from craft villages, festivals to relics. For this, the city is the UNESCO Creative City and the nickname City for Peace," Hong said.

The press conference on the Hanoi Creative Design Festival, which will be held from November 17 to 26. Photo: Ngoc Tu/The Hanoi Times

With the expanded scope of this year's Hanoi Creative Design Festival, Phan Dang Son, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Architects, expects visitors to Hanoi to spend more than a day touring exhibitions in 17 districts, reaffirming the direction of tourism development combined with cultural industries.

The festival is also an opportunity for initiatives to promote the potential of public-private partnerships for creative industries.

The Hanoi Creative Design Festival is an activity sponsored by the Hanoi People's Committee and hosted by the Vietnam Association of Architects, Department of Culture and Sports, and Architectural Magazine. This year, Vietnam Railways Corporation, the United Nations Human Settlements Program UN-HABITAT, and others also participated in the program.