Vietnamese puppetry exhibition: Cultural highlight at the Autumn Fair

Designed as a "miniature water pavilion" with images of funny puppets, the puppetry exhibition booth of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre in the heart of the 2025 Autumn Fair, taking place at the National Exhibition Fair Center (Dong Anh, Hanoi) became a "cultural highlight", among hundreds of commercial exhibition booths, attracting a large number of visitors.

Visitors take souvenir photos at the exhibition booth of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre.

Folk soul in the space of integration

A water pavilion with a dark brown tiled roof imbued with the culture of the Northern Delta, the four display sides cover the entire "picture" of Vietnamese puppetry art: From the funny Teu characters - the symbol of traditional water puppetry art - the quintessence of Northern folk culture, to the models of string puppets, stick puppets, hand puppets, mask puppets with a contemporary breath... vividly shaped, has made the booth of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre stand out as a "cultural oasis" imbued with traditional imprints, amidst the jubilant, colorful atmosphere of the Autumn Fair 2025.

Coming to the exhibition booth, visitors not only learn about Vietnamese puppetry, check-in in a space imbued with traditional culture, but also enjoy folk puppetry. There, the humorous Teu, herds of buffalo, fish, dragons, and phoenixes frolicking on the water, mixed with the laughter of children and the delighted eyes of adults, have lit a cultural "fire" in the heart of the fair.

People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung, Director of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre, said that with the desire to highlight the tradition and cultural values ​​at this first Autumn Fair, the exhibition booth of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre takes the highlight from the symbol of water puppetry, the water pavilion, the four sides of the water pavilion display the most unique features of puppetry, from traditional water puppetry to puppet shows with messages in life...

People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung shared that each puppet carries a soul - the crystallization of the artisan's hands and the Vietnamese soul. Puppetry is not only a technical performance, but also a unique form of storytelling in the language of water, sounds and folk rhythms. From that philosophy, the puppetry booth of the Theater is designed as a "miniature water pavilion" in the heart of the fair. Besides displaying funny puppet models, the Theater also has a space dedicated to children's puppetry, where the stage tells humane stories through the works of writer To Hoai, helping children both entertain and learn to feel the beauty and love for their homeland and people.

The difference that makes this year's puppetry booth so special is the combination of tradition and modernity. Based on handmade materials - bamboo, wood, lacquer, rattan, fabric - the puppets are shaped with a new look, close to today's life. Besides familiar folk characters such as Mr. Teu, the farmer, the buffalo, the fish..., the audience can also admire puppets transformed into contemporary characters, from "The Adventures of Men" to Snow White, the Seven Dwarfs or colorful Halloween images...

Not only a performance, the exhibition booth is also a “small classroom” of folk art. There, artists and artisans of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre directly instruct children on how to control mini puppets, introduce the process of creating and making puppets, from choosing wood, carving, painting, to controlling. Children can “touch” traditional culture, understand that behind the cheerful smile of Uncle Teu are hundreds of hours of meticulous and elaborate work of the artisans’ hands.

Ms. Nguyen Minh Thu, from Hai Ba Trung Ward ( Hanoi ) shared that she used to take her child to see puppet shows at the Theater, but that was just watching the artists perform from afar. Today, when coming to the exhibition booth at this Autumn Fair, her daughter was able to see and touch the puppets, and learn to control the puppets, she was extremely excited. "This will be a vivid lesson about puppetry and traditional Vietnamese culture for my daughter," Ms. Minh Thu shared.

Mr. Pham Van Hung, from Long Bien ward (Hanoi) shared that he was very impressed with the exhibition space of the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre at the 2025 Autumn Fair. The image of the water pavilion and the Teu boys reminded him of his childhood memories, because when he was young, his parents often took him to the village festival and watched the elders perform water puppetry...

Spreading values, promoting cultural industry

Puppetry art exhibition booth of Vietnam Puppetry Theatre in the heart of the 2025 Autumn Fair.

Vietnam Puppetry Theatre (under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) is the largest puppetry art center in the country, with the mission of preserving and developing traditional art to a wide audience at home and abroad. Nearly 70 years of establishment and development, Vietnam Puppetry Theatre has grown stronger and stronger, meeting the needs of art enjoyment for audiences: children, people in remote areas, domestic and international visitors. With a rich repertoire of water puppets, stick puppets, hand puppets, string puppets, mask puppets... The Theatre brings unique experiences to the audience, leaving its mark in more than 80 countries and territories around the world.

According to People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung, in recent times, the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre has maintained daily performances to serve tourists when they come to Hanoi. In addition, the Theatre has also expanded to a number of other performance venues. In recent years, many partners, investors and traditional art lovers have shown interest in and sought cooperation with the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre.

People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung said that during the past week, the number of people visiting the puppetry exhibition booth was very large, many people were impressed with the booth of the Theater as well as enjoyed the puppetry performance of the Theater at the fair. At this fair, the Vietnam Puppetry Theater signed a cooperation agreement with The State Vietnam Limited Liability Company and HTD Group Joint Stock Company. Accordingly, The State Vietnam Limited Liability Company signed a performance contract package worth 20 billion VND and HTD Group Joint Stock Company signed a performance contract package worth 1 billion VND with the Vietnam Puppetry Theater.

People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung shared that the signing of the performance cooperation agreement between the Theater and the two businesses is a valuable opportunity for the Theater to continue promoting the unique traditional puppetry art to domestic audiences, international friends and to reach tourist areas, which is what the Theater has long desired. Thereby, it shows that businesses see the values ​​of traditional culture and wish to join hands with the Theater to create good artistic products, to promote and introduce traditional art to domestic and foreign audiences.

From the art booth, the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre opens a new door for cooperation between culture and business, affirming that cultural values ​​can become economic resources, and art can be a bridge for international trade. The signed art performance contracts are proof that businesses and art units join hands to promote the development of Vietnam's cultural industries, bringing Vietnamese culture to a new level.

It can be seen that, in the overall 2025 Autumn Fair, the puppetry art pavilion is considered a vivid demonstration of the development orientation of Vietnam's cultural industries. There, "trade" is not only about buying and selling goods, but also about the exchange of knowledge, creativity and national identity.

According to VNA

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/gian-trung-bay-nghe-thuat-mua-roi-viet-nam-diem-nhan-van-hoa-tai-hoi-cho-mua-thu-a465846.html