A fashion show to highlight ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) will open the Ao Dai Festival 2017 on Ho Chi Minh City’s Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in District 1 on March 3.
The show Charming Vietnamese Ao Dai will attract 30 fashion models in ao dai from the latest collections by designers such as Si Hoang, Thuan Viet and Vo Viet Chung.
The event is one of many cultural and art activities of the annual Ao Dai Festival, organised by the city’s Department of Culture and Sports.
This year, the festival’s theme is Ao Dai- Toi Yeu Viet Nam (Ao Dai - I Love Viet Nam), aiming to honour and promote traditional cultural values as well as the beauty and grace of the ao dai, which has become the symbol of feminine beauty in Viet Nam.
The event will include an exhibition on ao dai at the Ao Dai Museum and two open-air music and song programmes featuring pop stars and young singers, including Dong Nhi, Huong Tram and Noo Phuoc Thinh.
More than 40 garment and textile companies and fashion houses have signed to join the two-day festival.
A contest on designing ao dai for the workplace as well as ceremonies and festivals will also be organised by the city’s Youth Cultural House.
Dozens of photo and picture exhibitions on women in ao dai will be held at universities and cultural centres around the city.
Last year, the festival attracted more than 50,000 foreign and local visitors.