The aerial view of Tràng An Landscape Complex that was recognised by UNESCO as a Cultural and Natural World Heritage Site. Photo courtesy of the organisation board of Tràng An Heritage Connecting - Ninh Bình Festival

NINH BÌNH Beauty queens from the Tourism World Pageant will gather at Tràng An Heritage Connecting - Ninh Bình Festival that will take place in the northern province of Ninh Bình from November 17-19.

According to Deputy Director of Ninh Bình Department of Culture and Sports, Trần Việt Phương, the festival is an important cultural and tourism event, aiming to promote cultural exchange activities, heritage site values and tourism cooperation between the province and other localities as well as abroad.

As the first festival that has ever been held by Ninh Bình Province, it is also part of the activities to celebrate Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day, November 23, he added.

Tràng An Heritage Connecting - Ninh Bình Festival will have the participation of the Laos art troupe from Udomxay Province and about 70 beauty queens of Miss Tourism World beauty pageant from around the world. They will perform at the opening ceremony and the street festival programme.

Some highlights of the festival include the opening ceremony Đinh Tiên Hoàng Đế Square on November 17, photo exhibition of traditional cultural and historical heritages at the Ninh Bình Provincial Sports Complex and the street festival programme at the Ninh Bình Provincial Gymnasium on November 18. Its closing ceremony will take place in Hoa Lư Ancient Capital on November 19.

Director of Ninh Bình Provincial Department of Culture and Sports, Nguyễn Mạnh Cường said: “The opening ceremony will feature art performances honouring heritages nationwide, thereby highlighting the connection as well as expressing the identity of the localities. There are many heritages that are not properly preserved and are in danger of being lost, so we want to convey the message appealing for cooperation in preserving the heritages."

He also expressed his hope that Tràng An Heritage Connecting - Ninh Bình Festival will gradually become a brand to attract tourism, promote the cultures and heritages of Việt Nam.

General Director of the festival, Lê Quý Dương, revealed that this year's festival will also be attended by representatives and artists from 13 provinces and cities nationwide including Hà Nội, Hải Phòng, Hà Nam, Nam Định and Thanh Hóa. Each troupe will perform a type of folk art such as chèo (traditional operreta), xẩm (blind wanderer’s music), Kim Sơn dance drum (Ninh Bình), water puppetry (Hà Nội) or love duets (Bắc Ninh).

"Tràng An Heritage Connecting - Ninh Bình Festival will connect heritages from different localities on the basis of equality and mutual respect," Dương said, hoping that this festival will be held every two years, developing into a national and international heritage festival as well as a cultural heritage brand of Ninh Bình Province.

Ninh Bình Province is home to the Tràng An Landscape Complex that was recognised by UNESCO as a Cultural and Natural World Heritage Site in 2014.

In UNESCO's words, "Tràng An is a resplendent complex of limestone karst peaks which are permeated with valleys, including submerged ones, and surrounded by steep, almost vertical cliffs," nestling on the southern shore of the Red River Delta.

Archaeological traces of human activity dating back thousands of years have been found within the complex.

The Tràng An Complex boasts several nationally recognised sites like the Tràng An ecotourism site and Hoa Lư, Việt Nam’s capital in the 10th and 11th centuries.

The area also has many other temples, pagodas, paddy fields, villages and other sacred sites.

It is home to around 500 flora species, 73 species of birds and 41 species of other animals and has a diverse ecosystem with unique geological characteristics. VNS