An art performance at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Kỳ Anh Tunnels–Đầm River Reed Bed Cultural and Tourism Festival. — VNA/VNS Photo

ĐÀ NẴNG — Đà Nẵng is expanding its tourism portfolio with a new community-based tourism initiative centred on the Kỳ Anh Tunnels and the Đầm River Reed Bed, combining wartime heritage, local culture and natural landscapes to promote sustainable tourism and heritage conservation.

The initiative took centre stage at the 2026 Kỳ Anh Tunnels–Đầm River Reed Bed Cultural and Tourism Festival, which opened on July 24 in Bàn Thạch Ward.

The festival featured a rich programme of cultural, tourism and sporting events, including art performances, traditional ceremonies at Thạch Tân and Vĩnh Bình communal houses, a re-enactment of soldiers returning to their village during wartime, a fish and shrimp release to replenish aquatic resources in the Đầm River, and a community folk dance contest.

Visitors also experienced Bài Chòi folk singing, a floating lantern ceremony, photo exhibitions, displays of OCOP (One Commune One Product) items, local agricultural specialities and start-up products, traditional sedge mat weaving in Thạch Tân, regional cuisine, guided tours of the Kỳ Anh Tunnels–Đầm River Reed Bed National Historical Site, and kayaking on the Đầm River.

Phan Xuân Thanh, vice chairman of the Đà Nẵng Tourism Association, said the site lies along the Central Heritage Road, linking the heritage destinations of Huế, Đà Nẵng, Hội An and Mỹ Sơn. It also enjoys convenient connections to attractions such as the Vietnamese Heroic Mother Monument, Tam Thanh Beach, coastal community tourism destinations and Đà Nẵng's network of historical and cultural sites.

He said the new tourism products will help showcase the area's historical and cultural heritage while promoting Bàn Thạch's landscapes and local identity. The initiative is also expected to strengthen community-based and experiential tourism, adding a distinctive heritage offering to Đà Nẵng's growing tourism sector.

The Kỳ Anh Tunnels are among Đà Nẵng's most important revolutionary relics. Constructed by hand during the resistance war against the US, the three-kilometre underground network became known as the "tunnels beneath the people's homes", with secret shelters, engineering bunkers and medical facilities built beneath houses and village communal halls.

The tunnels demonstrate remarkable wartime engineering in coastal sandy terrain and once served as a concealed base for military command, shelter, medical treatment and the storage of weapons and supplies.

Spanning about 180 ha, the Đầm River Reed Bed is a natural freshwater wetland that is home to nearly 300 species of plants and animals. It also served as a key revolutionary base during the war and remains one of the region's most valuable ecological assets. — VNA/VNS