HẢI PHÒNG Puppeteers are gathering in the northern city of Hải Phòng to showcase their best performances at a festival that is being held in the city through May 9.
The annual Hải Phòng puppet festival, this year themed Hải Phòng – 70 Years of Brilliant Flower Seasons, aims to preserve and promote the unique cultural and artistic values of traditional Vietnamese puppetry.
The event is part of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of Hải Phòng’s liberation (May 13, 1955 – 2025) and the Red Flamboyant Flower Festival 2025.
Director of the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Trần Thị Hoàng Mai said that Hải Phòng is a coastal region rich in identity, with a dense array of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
“In recent years, alongside economic development and improving the material life of its citizens, the city has continuously invested in cultural development to enhance the spiritual life of the people through practical policies,” she said.
“The city’s intangible cultural heritage has been recognised, preserved and promoted in daily life. Hải Phòng is now home to 12 different traditions recognised as national intangible cultural heritage.”
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| The performances are intricately staged, combining lighting effects, traditional music and witty dialogue that is rich in expression. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Thu |
According to Mai, each festival is a valuable opportunity to honour, preserve and promote traditional art — the priceless spiritual heritage that Vietnamese ancestors have cultivated over generations.
Of these, puppetry is a distinctive form of theatre, rich in folk expression, reflecting the Vietnamese soul through everyday stories and simple yet profound dreams and aspirations.
“This is also a commitment to preserving and bringing traditional art not only into the spaces of water puppetry theatres, stages, or small venues, but also into the streets, making it more accessible to the public, especially the youth,” the director added.
This year’s festival features performances by artists from the Vietnam Puppet Theatre, the Thăng Long Puppet Theatre in Hà Nội, the Hải Phòng Traditional Theatre and five traditional puppet troupes from various regions across the country.
The performances are intricately staged, combining lighting effects, traditional music and witty dialogue that is rich in expression. This creates a unique artistic experience for the audience, both novel and familiar.
A highlight of the festival is the colourful street parade featuring over 3,000 artists and performers in traditional costumes, along with vibrant and playful puppet figures. Also participating in the parade are international students, scholars and professionals living and working in Hải Phòng, as well as women in traditional attire from Kim Thành District in nearby Hải Dương Province.
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| Puppeteers from Vĩnh Bảo District in Hải Phòng join the parade. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Thu |
The festival also includes performances of traditional art forms like chèo (northern traditional opera) and đờn ca tài tử (southern folk music).
Notably, there will be performances of traditional water puppetry and the launch of a special artistic programme titled Hải Phòng Welcomes Friends from All Directions by the Hải Phòng Traditional Theatre.— VNS
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