Second Việt Nam Festival held in north western France

LANGUIDIC, Morbihan, France -- Activities promoting Vietnamese culture were held in Languidic city, in the Morbihan region of France.

The Việt Nam Festival, which was co-hosted by Languidic City Hall, along with Art Space Association and Vietnam Bretagne Sud Association, included a series of events to introduce Vietnamese culture in French schools. Performances included pieces on Vietnamese traditional and contemporary art and the puppet play 'The Legend of Bánh Chưng and Bánh Dày' at the City Library.

The event is part of the international cultural exchange and community project Toucher Arts, organised by the Art Space association, with the participation of 33 members who are 13-17-year-old students fromViệt Nam, Canada, Australia, Japan and France.

A photo exhibition on Hội An attracted much French interest. Photos Courtesy of the organisers

Attending the programme were Laurent Duval, mayor of Languidic city, and nearly 1,000 French people interested in Vietnamese culture living in Languidic and neighbouring cities such as Lorient, Larmor-Plage, Kervignac and Queven.

Promoting Vietnamese language

On June 28 and 29, French people in Morbihan province had the opportunity to participate in many activities to learn and explore Vietnamese culture in a diverse and colourful way, including listening to Vietnamese fairy tales retold t the central library of Languidic city.

With the desire to convey the beauty of the Vietnamese language and Vietnam's cultural traditions to international friends, Toucher Arts project members chose a familiar story about the Tet holiday, 'The Legend of Bánh Chưng and Bánh Dày' , combined with the form of puppet theatre so that all ages could participate. French children and their families were also excited to answer questions about Vietnamese culture to receive gifts and to discover Vietnamese traditions and customs.

The entire script, translation, creating and drawing the puppet theatre stage, character control, storytelling and workshop instruction, were completed by Vietnamese-origin young students of Toucher Arts project from all over the world. It took the entire team three months to prepare for this project before coming to France.

Isabelle Masson-Courtet, Director of the Languidic music school and library said: “The show is greatly presented. The young audience watched the show attentively and were extremely excited."

Parade promoting Vietnamese culture 

With the theme of Vietnamese customs and traditions, more than 100 international students, Vietnamese in France and French friends in áo dài took part in the parade to introduce traditions in Vietnamese culture such as Mid-Autumn Festival and the Lunar New Year.

They recreated many unique images such as giving lucky money envelopes. The parade is also organised on a large scale and receives the support of the community of French people who live in the surrounding areas.

A parade promoting Vietnamese culture.

Vibrant colours of Vietnamese music

On the evening of June 28, a concert titled 'Vietnamese Colours' took place to introduce to French audiences at the festival to the beauty of Vietnamese music and art.

Participating in the event was the traditional martial arts club Minh Long Mordelles from the city of Mordelles, with a performance called 'One round of Vietnam' combining martial arts and art and performers from the Vietnamese Cultural Centre in Paris with traditional bamboo musical instruments. Designer Ella Phan also presented an áo dài collection called 'The flow' inspired by different historical periods. Folk dance and contemporary dance performances by Vietnamese students and French children helped introduce Vietnamese music to international friends in a youthful and unique way.

Designer Ella Phan's áo dài collection on stage.

International cultural exchange

The Festival is not only an opportunity to introduce Vietnamese culture, country and people, but is also considered an important event connecting the Vietnamese community living in all five continents to gather in France to promote their homeland's culture to international friends. In addition to the French community that loves Vietnam and overseas Vietnamese living in many neighboring cities such Nantes and Rennes, there was the participation of 33 Vietnamese and Vietnamese students aged from 13 to 17 years old, from Canada, England, France, Australia and Japan.Mayor of Languidic Laurent Duval said: “I find this to be an extremely interesting and unique event as you have gathered dozens of young Vietnamese people from all over the world to come here and participate in the organisation, performance, and such dynamic activities."

"I am very happy to welcome Vietnamese culture to the Breton region and also look forward to having the opportunity to share Breton culture with the Vietnamese people one day.” VNS