Announcing Hue Festival 2024 and recreating Ban Soc Ceremony of Nguyen Dynasty

On the morning of January 1st, at Ngoc Mon Square, the People’s Committee of Thua Thien-Hue Province organized the announcement program for the 2024 Hue Festival and a stage performance reenacting the Nguyen Dynasty Royal Ban Soc Ceremony.

With the theme “Cultural Heritage with Integration and Development,” the 2024 Hue Festival will feature continuous activities throughout the year, showcasing remarkable festivals including the Spring Festival “Spring in the Ancient Capital” (from January to March); the Summer Festival “The Imperial City Shines” (April to June); the Autumn Festival “Hue in Autumn” (July to September); and the Winter Festival “Winter in Hue” (October to December), along with numerous other related activities.

A special highlight of the 2024 Hue Festival is the Spotlight Week, taking place from June 7th to 12th, featuring a series of high-quality artistic activities, bringing together artists from Hue, various cultural regions of Vietnam, and outstanding international artistic groups. With over 24 years of existence and development, the Hue Festival has become a notable event in the global festival system.

Hoang Viet Trung, the Director of the Conservation Center for the Imperial City of Hue, stated that the 2024 Hue Festival, with its four-season orientation, will continue to explore festivals throughout the year, incorporating elements of folk festivals, court festivals, religious festivals, and traditional festivals. Additionally, the festival aims to gradually develop new festival programs, aligning with trends and meeting the public’s viewing preferences, evolving into a regular tourism product contributing to socio-economic development, making Thua Thien-Hue a truly distinctive Festival City of Vietnam.

To kick off the 2024 Hue Festival, the Conservation Center for the Imperial City of Hue recreated the Nguyen Dynasty Royal Ban Soc Ceremony through a staged performance, capturing the rituals and customs of ancient times.

The Ban Soc Ceremony was an ancient calendar-publishing ceremony of the Nguyen Dynasty, regularly held at the end of the lunar year. Each year, after the Khâm Thiên Giám compiled the calendar, the royal court organized the Ban Soc Ceremony under the direction of two officials from the Ministry of Rites and Khâm Thiên Giám. The calendar was presented to the Imperial Palace for the royal family’s use and distributed to officials in the Imperial City, as well as in localities, and further distributed among the general population. The Ban Soc Ceremony was originally held at the Thai Hoa Palace courtyard. In the Year of the Buffalo 1841, Emperor Minh Mang directed the Ban Soc Ceremony to be held for the first time at Ngoc Mon Gate.

The reenactment of the Ban Soc Ceremony is a revival of the humane spirit of the past and an opportunity for tourists and the people of Hue to experience the heritage of the Imperial City of Hue on the first day of the new year.

@Znews