Ao dai festival attracts more than 100,000 visitors

Over 100,000 people responded to activities at the Ao dai festival, the fifth of its kind, which concluded in Ho Chi Minh City on March 26.

A ao dai performance at the opening ceremony (Photo: VNA)
A ao dai performance at the opening ceremony (Photo: VNA)

According to the Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen, the festival reflects the city’s wish to preserve and promote the values of the traditional dress, and to honour people who have been engaged in the act of preservation.

The organising board said the festival gathered 23 top designers and introduced more than 1,200 designs to the public.

The festival featured 16 main activities, including an opening ceremony, which showcased 13 collections on the Nguyen Hue pedestrian street on March 3, and a mass performance of 3,000 people wearing Ao dai on March 4.

A forum on the charm of Ao dai was organised to help international friends understand the culture and history behind the dress. Spaces for local tourism promotion on Nguyen Hue Street, an Ao dai exhibition, and a conference on the history of the Ao dai were among other features of the event.

Themed “Ho Chi Minh City Charming Ao dai” and with a message of “I love Vietnamese Ao dai”, the festival was co-organised by the municipal Tourism Department and the Women’s Union.