Vietnam Water Puppet Charms Audience at Int'l Children's Festival
	Hanoi to Host International Puppetry Festival 2024

According to the Department of International Cooperation under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, within the framework of the opening ceremony of the Vietnam Cultural Festival themed “Vietnam - Colours of the Tropics”, which takes place in Russia from July 25 to August 3, Vietnamese water puppetry and traditional stage puppetry emerged as outstanding features of the event. Each day, Vietnamese artists present three performances of stage puppetry and three of water puppetry, offering Russian audiences a unique glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of the Red River Delta, a land where people live in harmony with nature, agriculture, and waterways.

Russian citizens gather at Red Square to enjoy puppetry performances by Vietnamese artists. (Photo: icd.gov.vn)

The traditional water puppetry acts depict legends and folk tales such as the dragon dance, phoenix dance, and fairy dance, celebrating the beauty of nature and labor. On the moss-green water surface, vivid figures of dragons, phoenixes, farmers, buffaloes, and plows come to life, rustic yet deeply engaging. This year’s stage puppetry brought delightful surprises by harmoniously blending Vietnamese culture and music with iconic Russian masterpieces like Swan Lake and Kalinka, creating a graceful and refreshing artistic symphony between Vietnam and Russia.

A traditional stage puppetry performance by Vietnamese artists. (Photo: icd.gov.vn)

People’s Artist Nguyen Tien Dung, Director of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre, shared: “This location, this event, is of historic significance. Opportunities like this are rare, and it is thanks to the 75 years of friendship and goodwill between Vietnam and Russia. We are deeply moved by the warm welcome and enthusiastic reception from the Russian public, especially toward water puppetry.” He emphasized that while performing abroad always presents challenges, the honor of representing the nation and promoting the beauty of Vietnam’s traditional arts carries far greater meaning.

A performance by Vietnamese artists at Red Square. (Photo: icd.gov.vn)

At Red Square, Russian spectators of all ages waited for hours to enjoy the shows, offering continuous rounds of applause for the Vietnamese water puppetry acts. For the artists, this is both a source of pride and a reminder of their responsibility to continue innovating, preserving, and widely promoting this thousand-year-old art form, thereby contributing to strengthening the Vietnam-Russia friendship.

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