Ten countries to join int’l puppetry festival

October 08, 2015 5:48 PM GMT+7

VGP - The fourth International Puppetry Festival will take place in Ha Noi from October 10-16, drawing puppeteers from host Viet Nam and nine foreign countries, the Department of Performing Arts announced.

This year, the 7-day festival, the fourth of its kind in the Southeast Asian country, will feature 18 performances which introduce all types of puppetry such as water puppetry, finger puppetry, shadow puppetry, and stick puppetry.

Foreign troupes will come from Russia, the UK, Germany, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Belgium and the Philippines.

Head of the Performing Arts Department Nguyen Dang Chuong said that a new feature of this year’s event is that besides competing performances, participating troupes will perform in the northern provinces of Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Hai Duong and Vinh Phuc and Thanh Hoa province in the central region.

Viet Nam is famous globally for its unique and attractive water puppetry.

Water puppetry is believed to have originated from the villages of the Red River Delta in the 11th century when the performing guilds of nine northern provinces practiced the art.

Evidence of the link between water puppetry and farming can be seen in the traditional puppetry guilds, which are located around the fertile land of the Red River Delta. This area consists of numerous rivers and is often prone to flooding.

The fest’s opening ceremony will take place at 8:00 pm on October 10 at the Ha Noi Opera House, and will be broadcast live on the Quoc Hoi (Congress) TV channel.

By Vien Nhu