International visitors hugely impressed with Hue Festival 2018

Enjoying the Street Parades “Colors of Culture”

Offering experiences in a whole gamut of different emotions from curiosity, surprise to satisfaction, Hue Festival 2018 in specific and Hue Festival in general are always popular with domestic as well as international audiences. Enjoying Hue Festival, foreign tourists all share the same thinking: “We will come back.”

Traditional Hue cuisine is served to international visitors beside the Huong river

Jean, a French visitor: New impression

“This time, I go to Hue in order to see the Citadel. I know nothing about Hue Festival, I also do not know there is a festival today,” Jean said.

Though it was a surprise for him, Jean was sure that it was a fascinating festival. This was the first time he enjoyed Hue Festival, and he had had no idea what the festival exactly was before. Hopefully this huge event would leave a new impression on him.

When asked about the feelings about Hue, Jean shared that he was most impressed by the size of the Citadel.

Experiencing games in Hue Festival

Big win

Robert Stoner and Randi Boorstern (American tourists): So animated

“This is the first time we have been to Hue to travel, and it is a coincidence when there is a festival in these days. The outdoor activities are so animated, and the atmosphere is really fun. We like to watch the performances of Vietnamese art troupes and foreign ones because each troupe has different characteristics. There are also similar cultural festivals in our country, which gather special performances throughout the country, because the United States has many different cultures,” Robert said.

Robert Stoner and Randi Boorstern

Staying in Hue for three days, they planned to buy a tour to visit famous sights of Hue. As introduced by friends about Hue food, they were very excited to taste it and said that they would come back to Hue in the future. 

Young tourists from Thailand: Falling in love with Hue!    

Due to their short time in Hue, a group of Thailand youngsters shared that they didn’t have many opportunities to see a lot of cultural programs in Hue Festival 2018, they just had time to join in the food festival, the beer festival, crossing Truong Tien bridge, visit Thien Mu Pagoda.  “The festive atmosphere is really wonderful. The scale of the festival is magnificent; many roads and stages are decorated with splendid lighting systems,” they said.

Young tourists from Thailand

“Compared to festivals in Thailand, Hue Festival 2018 also has many things in common. But there are more people as well as foreign tourists here. On schedule, we only stay here until noon, but because of the Hue Festival, we decide to stay one more night to explore new things and activities in the festival. If there is a chance, our group will definitely come back to Hue and introduce it to our family and friends. Oh, we fall in love with Hue!” they affirmed.

Locals and visitors sharing the festive atmosphere

Delicious specialties always attract international visitors

In addition to those opinions, most tourists feel amazed at the Festival’s monumental scale. Although they know Hue Festival by chance, some foreign tourists like  Caroline from the US said that she was curious about the Trinh Cong Son music concert and wanted to enjoy songs composed by the late musician of Hue in specific and Vietnam in general. While Alice and her friends from France were really excited about performances which re-enacted the history of Hue such as: Nam Giao Offering Ritual, Royal Hue’s Essence, Closing Ceremony, etc.

By Hanh Nhi – Le Thao – To Quyen