Vietnamese, RoK artists gather at cultural festival

As many as 80 artists from Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) are to perform together at the Korean Cultural Exchange Festival on June 30 in Hanoi.

Girlband A-Daily will perform at the festival. (Photo courtesy of the organiser)
Girlband A-Daily will perform at the festival. (Photo courtesy of the organiser)

It’s part of an effort to boost mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries and introduce the RoK to the world.

The festival will promote the traditional culture and art of the RoK. A highlight will be Yeong San Jae, a Buddhist ceremony which was added by UNESCO in 2009 to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Twenty monks from the RoK will perform the ceremony, which is a re-enactment of Buddha’s delivery of the Lotus Sutra on the Vulture Peak in India. Through rituals and dances, the philosophical and spiritual messages of Buddhism are expressed.

Hallyu (Korean wave) fans will be eager for a concert gathering famous stars such as singer Budy, boyband Samchongsa and girlband A-Daily. Singer Luu Thuy Linh and eight Vietnamese dance groups will join the performance.

Song Kyo-young, director of the Korean Institute for Culture and Economy Promotion, the organiser of the event, said this is the first time the programme has been organised in Vietnam. He hoped Vietnamese partners to work together to organise the programme annually.

Entry to the festival, starting at 1pm at the Grand Plaza, 117 Tran Duy Hung Street, Hanoi, is free.