Perspective of Hue Imperial Citadel Night Street
To exploit the potential and promote the unique strengths of Hue, at the end of 2020, Hue City People's Committee approved the project "Development of tourism products and night services for the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030", which includes the project "Hue Imperial Citadel Night Street".
According to the draft, the project’s space consists of the outer area of the Imperial Citadel and 4 streets: August 23, Dang Thai Than, Le Huan, and Doan Thi Diem.
After a period of investment in infrastructure construction and embellishment of the 4 streets in the area around the Citadel, Hue city will first deploy phase 1 in the area of Le Huan and August 23 streets. The aim is to meet the needs of experiencing and learning about Hue culture through activities modeled after the Nguyen Dynasty’s festivals, folk art and culture, street festivals, shopping for specialties, and discovering Hue cuisine for both local people and tourists.
The launch of the night street is to add diversity in destinations so that visitors would prolong their stay. This would increase service revenue through tourism products, and serve as a basis for the formation of the Imperial Citadel Night Street with the two remaining routes: Dang Thai Than and Doan Thi Diem.
According to leaders of Hue City People's Committee, the operation of Imperial Citadel Night Street will connect with other important areas in the Citadel, such as Tinh Tam - Hoc Hai lake; Lau Tang Tho; Binh Dai fort – Little Mang Ca area; Ngu Ha River and the space of Thuong Thanh - Eo Bau.
Accordingly, the operating time is from 19h00 to 23h00, every Friday and Saturday. The space of phase 1 starts from The Nhon gate to August 23 Street and Le Huan Street from the Nam Thang Fort to Yet Kieu Street. It is expected that there will be 28 stalls and 4 areas for cultural activities and experiences at Le Huan street park.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu, residing at Le Huan Street, Hue city shared: “For a long time, when festivals came, the inner area of the Citadel and the Ngo Mon area were very lively and bustling with many programs and activities, while the four streets surrounding the Citadel were quiet and gloomy. I hope that the opening of the Imperial Citadel Night Street would create opportunities for people to participate in business and enjoy tourism products and services in this area, promoting economic development."
To create opportunities for people to participate in activities in the night street, the city encourages individuals and organizations to do business and display goods along Le Huan Street, such as handicrafts products, oriental medicine products, Hue’s specialties, and cuisine…
Besides building stalls, the nightlife area will recreate the space of an ancient Hue for visitors to enjoy various types of performances, experience folk games, traditional crafts, and enjoy Hue cuisine to create a unique highlight to attract tourists at night.
One of the highlights of the Imperial City Night Street is that street art activities will be integrated and arranged in the surrounding area to create a cultural space with many unique types such as the unicorn and lion dance festival program at Ngo Mon Square and Tay Khuyet Dai, and public performances on August 23 and Le Huan routes along with festival programs of ao dai, lanterns, lights...
A lively space with activities to experience culture and art will also be focused on, such as Sinh village painting, mask painting, Thanh Tien paper flower making, folk and street art programs, etc. This will attract tourists and serve as a basis for the proposed pilot implementation of the Province's night economy project in the future.
Story and photo: Mai Huong