Local community prepares for weekend rendezvous at Tân Thành Flea maeket on Nguyễn Phan Vinh street on An Bàng Beach of Hội An city. An installation Festival will take place at the site on December 22-24. Photo courtesy of Tân Thành Flea Market

HỘI AN – An art festival, Art to Save the Sea, will be held at the Tân Thành Flea Market on a section of Nguyễn Phan Vinh street on An Bàng beach, 5km from Hội An, from December 22-24.

The event organiser, Lê Quốc Việt, said the festival plans to display 20 selected art works on a 300m section of the beach front street with the topic of climate change, ocean environmental protection, saving the sea from pollution, recycling and plastic waste.

He said the selection will be open for all participants from November 11th to December 20th, and the best 20 will be shown in the official exhibition.

The organisers said the art works (painting, picture or mock-up) should be 2m wide by 2m high, or 4m long, or 1.5m wide and 2.5m long for sidewalk setup.

It said all art works should be made from weather-proof material for outdoor display at the Kid’s Zone in the street.

An artist paints portraits for two women at the Tân Thành Flea Market in Hội An. Local people and tourists often gather at the market on weekends.

Việt said the art festival encourages participants to use recycled and environment-friendly materials for art works.

Vietnamese and foreigners living in Việt Nam can email their works through: tanthanhfleamarket@gmail.com.

A series of environment protection activities, including street performances, beach cleaning, a recycled material fashion show, a painting and photo contest on the reduction of waste will also be held during the three-day festival.

The Tân Thành flea market will also be opened on the weekend with the participation of 100 pavilions of handmade crafts and cuisine, a food & beverage fair, organic products, and One-Commune-One Product (OCOP).

The market, which was built in Tân Thành fishing village, has been building green beach tourism by boosting plastic-zero waste-recycle manners among the community and tourists.

The flea market is a weekend rendezvous for all local and expat vendors in Đà Nẵng, Hội An, Huế and mountainous areas of Quảng Nam along with tourists joining day and night festive activities from 9am to 9pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

An outdoor bar offers fresh drinks in Tân Thành flea market on beach front Nguyễn Phan Vinh Street, 5km away from Hội An's Old Quarter. Photo courtesy of Lê Quốc Việt

Buyers and sellers can bring organic products, recycled items, old furniture and various second-hand items to exchange on the weekend.

The community is seen as the first site in Hội An building up a waste recycle site – the Material Recovery Facility – where local people bring reusable waste for recycling rather than dumping, and a non-plastic market.

A saleswoman offers hand-made products on the weekend at Tân Thành market on An Bàng beach. The site has seen as a destination outside of the Old Quarter of Hội An. Photo courtesy of Tân Thành Flea Market

The art festival is held to promote the ‘The National Tourism Year – Quảng Nam 2022' with the theme ‘Quảng Nam – A Green Tourism Destination’, and Christmas Day. — VNS