HÀ NỘI — Craftspeople from traditional villages in Hà Nội’s suburban district of Thanh Oai have gathered to present their unique handicraft products at a Christmas Fair at the 118-year-old Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel.

The artisans, who are masters of their guilds, hail from the Canh Hoạch bird cage making village, the Dư Dụ wood carving village and the Chuông conical hat making village. They demonstrated their amazing skills at the fair.  

Under their “golden hands”, natural materials such as palm leaves, bamboo trees or a block of wood are turned into a charming conical hat, a refined wood statue, or a sophisticated carved bird cage.

Speaking at the opening of the fair on Monday evening, the hotel’s General Director William Haandrikman said: “The fair aims to introduce to our guests and other tourists the quintessence of folk villages, thus to contribute partly to promoting Vietnamese traditional handicrafts. Visitors will have a chance to witness the amazing skills of the craftsmen, to talk with them about their works and to purchase beautiful handicraft products.”

According to Lê Thị Hà, chairwoman of the Thanh Oai District People’s Committee, the district, which is located only 20km from Hà Nội, has more than 50 traditional villages.

“Alongside the folk villages of handicraft products, there are many villages making edible products including Ước Lễ (specialists in giò chả – Vietnamese traditional sausage making) and Cự Đà (specialists in vermicelli making),” she said. “So we hope we will have chance to introduce our local specialties to tourists.”

Standing in his booth at the fair, Lê Văn Tuy from Chuông Village proudly tells visitors about his homemade conical hats. He says they are not only a headwear product, but also a “typical Vietnamese image.”

“Come to my workshop in Chuông Village,” he said. “Visitors will have chance to see a mini museum” displaying conical hats from different regions in Việt Nam.

“Although each region has some specific techniques in making the hats, it doesn’t matter as long as foreign tourists can realise it is a Vietnamese conical hat,” he said.     

The fair, which is taking place next to the hotel’s garden, is open daily from 3pm to 7pm until December 31. — VNS