Artists from Yangpyeong Art Troupe (Korea) performing at the street festival

The streets are bustling with color

Every artist is a "cultural messenger". They do their best to show off the artistic quintessence, dedicating to viewers with the spirit of an artist no matter what stage they are on. If the performances on the main stage are quite methodical and professional, then at the street festival stage there is something that is just them, both skillful and humorous, passionate but also very entertaining.

These days the whole Hue city seems to be immersed in the festival. In the afternoons, when the street festivals take place, the streets are like bustling stages with people gathering from everywhere. Each art troupe is like a "specialty" that treats people and tourists with cultural quintessence in each song, dance, drum sound, etc.

There, viewers were immersed in the beautiful dances of the artists from Yangpyeong Art Troupe (Korea). On the background of roaring drums, the artists from the land of kimchi in colorful costumes move smoothly and skillfully. With tireless steps, the artists try to display all the quintessence of art with the hope of bringing laughter to visitors. Every place this troupe stops to perform always attracts viewers and continuous applause.

Also making a huge impression with the street festival is the Eisa Urakaji Drum Dance Troupe from Japan. Each powerful and decisive drum movement along with the beautiful movements of the artists made viewers unable to take their eyes off. The drumming of the Eisa Urakaji troupe seemed to bring the joy, enthusiasm and vitality of the young people to the festival. "We want to bring a refreshing, wonderful feeling like the ocean breeze to everywhere," said the artists of the Eisa Urakaji troupe.

One art troupe after another, the whole street continues to stretch, creating festival routes. When artists take to the streets, people, young and old, girls and boys, also flock to the streets to have fun. In addition to performing on the road, art troupes are also allocated time to fully perform each performance right at major intersections.

 The appearance of the De Koninklijke Steltenlopers Merchtem Stilt Art Troupe from Belgium has never disappointed the audience

Performing in Hue is like performing in their hometown

Everyone was surprised and burst into emotion by the artists from the De Koninklijke Steltenlopers Merchtem Stilt Art Troupe from Belgium. Although they have come to Hue many times to perform at the festival, these artists have never disappointed the audience.

There were nearly 50 artists of many different ages, but the professionalism in the performance said it all. They walk on stilts from 1 to 5 meters skillfully. Besides the performances of walking-on-stilts under stilts and lifting the stilts' legs high, the artists sometimes also make jokes that make viewers think they are about to fall to the ground.

Stilt artist Nadine Van Isveldt of the stilt troupe said that she has performed in many places around the world and is very happy to return to Hue to perform for the second time during the festival. Performing in Hue with this artist is like performing in her hometown. “The streets in Hue are so beautiful, the people are friendly and the way they welcomed us was also very warm. So why not show off all the quintessence to everyone?", said artist Nadine Van Isveldt excitedly. Not only performing, stilt artist Nadine Van Isveldt sees this as an opportunity to admire the artistic quintessence of many countries and regions in Vietnam.

The host - Hue also participated in the street festival with the artistic quintessence of Unicorn-lion-dragon dances, Tuong masks, or Hue kites with many shimmering colors, making the festival atmosphere joyful and lively.

Mr. Nguyen Hoai Vinh (Hue City resident) has seen many festival programs during the Hue Festival, but the most impressive thing for him is the street festival. Every year, on this occasion he always goes down to the streets to watch art troupes performing on the street, to immerse himself in the bustling, colorful atmosphere. For him, when participating in this festival, everyone is an artist and everyone can have fun. “There the artist performs next to the audience and vice versa. The audience is also very comfortable to approach and have fun with the artist. Everyone is friendly, and the streets are full of laughter," Mr. Vinh commented.

According to the organizers, the street festival is a large and meaningful cultural event, making an important contribution to the success of the Hue Festival. Not only affirming, this festival also honors the cultural values of Vietnam and countries around the world. Street performance activities with diverse cultural colors, the resonance between the performances of artists along with the exciting and enthusiastic cheers of people and tourists have created a vibrant atmosphere in the festival days.

Story and photos: NHAT MINH