Hanoi Creative Design Festival: From annual event to urban creative platform

Audience members watch a performance at the Hanoi Children's Palace during the Creative Design Festival 2024. (Photo: Giang Nam)

The Hanoi Creative Design Festival is an annual event held from 2021, to fulfill the city's commitment to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

After four successful seasons, the festival has become a cultural event that the public looks forward to, contributing to affirming Hanoi's brand as a "Creative City".

The space in Hang Dau water tower becomes an art space in the Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2023. (Photo: Duy Linh)

According to Plan No. 97/KH-UBND dated April 11, 2025 of the Hanoi People's Committee on organizing activities in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2025, the Hanoi Creative Design Festival will be held every two years.

Speaking at the meeting, Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Bach Lien Huong emphasized: “The festival is a platform to connect the creative community, contributing to the formation of a sustainable cultural ecosystem. Organizing it every two years helps to prepare more thoroughly, promote many new ideas, and spread the creative spirit to all social classes.”

As a companion of the festival for many years, Ms. Bui Thi Thanh Huong - Deputy Editor-in-Chief in charge of Architecture Magazine, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee of the 2026 Festival shared experiences through the 2021-2024 festival and proposed a vision for the 2025-2030 period. Accordingly, the festival needs to develop from an annual event into a sustainable urban creative platform, with four main orientations and the mission of spreading the creative values of architecture-culture-community.

Architects, experts and artists also contributed many ideas to the plan to organize the Festival in 2026.

Architect Nguyen Hong Quang said the central route of the 2026 festival is expected to be located in the Dong Xuan Market area, connecting heritage spaces such as Hang Dau Booth, Quan Chuong Gate and cultural industrial centers.

Representatives of the group of curators and artists such as Nguyen Anh Tuan, Nguyen Quoc Hoang Anh, Truong Ngoc Lan, and Nguyen The Son proposed developing a festival ecosystem associated with arts, crafts, and creative economic models.

Architect Hoang Thuc Hao, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Architects, emphasized: “Creativity is not only to promote the economy, but also to nurture culture. Each event needs to become a driving force for development, contributing to the formation of an international creative network in Hanoi.”

He also said that the Vietnam Association of Architects will host the 2026 International Architecture Festival, accompanying the Creative Design Festival to create a forum for exchange between the architectural, artistic and creative communities.

At the meeting, delegates agreed on the general direction: strengthening the structure of the Coordination Board including the Department of Culture and Sports, Architecture Magazine and key partners; assigning tasks for field surveys, developing funding projects and communication plans; and determining the next meeting schedule to review progress.

In her closing remarks, Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Bach Lien Huong thanked the experts and architects for their dedicated contributions and affirmed: “The Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports will synthesize opinions and propose appropriate support mechanisms to maintain creative activities not only within the framework of the festival but also contribute to becoming a driving force for sustainable creative economic development in the capital.”

VIET HOANG

Source: https://nhandan.vn/le-hoi-thiet-ke-sang-tao-ha-noi-tu-su-kien-thuong-nien-den-tang-sang-tao-do-thi-post919910.html