Published:  00:00 Wednesday - December 31, 2008

The first-ever ethnic street festival will countdown the New Year in Quang Nam’s ancient town of Hoi An on New Year’s Eve.

As well as vividly coloured displays of Vietnam’s ethnic groups, Western and American-style festive activities will be paraded in front of gathered crowds.

The director of the Hoi An City’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Centre, Vo Phung, said he hopes to give local and foreign tourists a truly memorable, multicultural festival experience.

This festival will be a marked departure from other static, conventional festivals. This year’s event is spreading right across the city, to the An Hoi sculpture garden, the An Hoi public open-air stage, the Chua Cau roundabout and the Quang Trieu Chinese Communal House.

“Tonight’s festival will present the ‘cultural space’ of Vietnam’s ethnic groups and other countries which historically traded in Hoi An’s bustling trading port from the 16^th to 18^th century. Those countries include the Netherlands, Spain, France and Japan,” Phung said.

The cultural nuances of each ethnic group and country will reappear in traditional costumes, national flags, and famous architectural symbols. Artists from 12 troupes in Quang Nam province will demonstrate traditional folk performances from each ethnic group and foreign country.

From 10.30pm, processions of artists will group together from locations across the city to the Hoai River Square. From there, the festival’s main activities will be performed. Tourists will join with local residents to release flower-shaped lanterns onto the Hoai River. At the stroke of midnight, everyone will join in the song Happy New Year. A dancing performance on the street will close the street festival.

A lantern festival will be held in the town on January 25 to welcome the Lunar New Year. To prepare for the festival, the municipal People’s Committee has launched a lantern-making competition, focusing on the theme “Hoi An’s Culture” and “Cat Tuong” (Good Fortune). Everyone can join the competition and there are no limits on the number of lanterns made. The contest will end on January 10. The festival aims to honour the lantern-making tradition in the town.