Enhancing the brand of festivals and cultural festivals

However, to enhance the brand of festivals, avoid spreading out and lacking identity, and at the same time ensure effective tourism promotion and economic benefits, each locality needs to have a clear strategy, suitable to its own cultural characteristics.

Art performance at the Hanoi World Cultural Festival 2025 at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage Center. Photo *: Phan Anh*

Attracting a large number of tourists

In recent years, festivals have become cultural and tourism products that attract a large number of tourists. According to the Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association, Phung Quang Thang, festivals are events that focus on many cultural elements such as performing arts, cuisine , handicrafts, tangible and intangible heritage, tourism experiences, etc. Thereby, attracting tourists, stimulating spending as well as creative activities.

In fact, many localities have shaped large cultural festivals and festivals with brand identity, achieving high efficiency in terms of promotion, attracting tourists and revenue. In Hue, the successful organization of the National Tourism Year associated with the Hue Festival has helped Hue achieve tourism revenue of more than 2,600 billion VND in the first quarter of 2025 alone. In Quang Ninh, the organization of a series of attractive cultural, entertainment and tourism festivals such as the Ha Long Carnival 2025, the Sports Sailing Festival, the Hot Air Balloon Festival, the Kite Festival... has attracted about 16.2 million visitors in the first 8 months of 2025, an increase of 10% over the same period; total tourism revenue reached 41,380 billion VND, an increase of 21% over the same period.

In Da Nang, the 2025 Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF) has created a big boost for tourism. In June 2025, the total number of visitors staying in the city is estimated at about 1.17 million, an increase of nearly 10.3% over the same period in 2024. The first 5 fireworks nights alone attracted nearly 400,000 visitors, equivalent to the total number of visitors for the entire DIFF 2024 season.

For Hanoi, the city not only exploits heritage to develop the cultural industry but also organizes many events with far-reaching influence, contributing to positioning the capital as an "event city" and "festival city". Programs such as the Creative Design Festival, the Culinary Culture Festival, the Hanoi Ao Dai Tourism Festival, the Hanoi Tourism Gift Festival... all attract tens of thousands of participants.

In 2025, many new festivals will continue to be a driving force for the capital's cultural development, typically the Thang Long - Hanoi Festival, the Hanoi World Cultural Festival, the 2025 International Craft Village Festival, etc. These events have created a strong effect in attracting tourists, contributing to helping Hanoi realize its goal of becoming a cultural industrial center of the country and the region.

Leverage for cultural industry development

Art performance "Ao Dai on the Heritage Road" at the Hanoi World Cultural Festival 2025 at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage Center.

According to the Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Nguyen Trung Khanh, the development strategy of the tourism industry always encourages localities to diversify products based on cultural, natural and human resources. Organizing new festivals based on heritage and culture is a way to both preserve and promote identity and build sustainable tourism products.

Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh said that many new festivals are making an important contribution to increasing tourist attraction and promoting socio-economic development. However, he also warned: Currently, many localities are massively developing new festivals without direction, causing many festivals to be similar in organization methods and scale, failing to create a strong tourism brand for the locality. To effectively develop cultural festivals that can be upgraded to cultural and tourism brands, Mr. Vu The Binh said that localities need to have a clear strategy on development orientation, identify their strengths and cultural identity, and from there have appropriate investments and innovations.

Giving his opinion to Hanoi, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association Phung Quang Thang suggested: To become a "festival city", in addition to investing in cultural and artistic elements, Hanoi needs to pay attention to investing in transport infrastructure, tourism services and public utilities. Along with that, it is necessary to build tours that combine visiting cultural heritage and participating in festivals to increase the value of the experience for tourists.

Regarding this issue, Bui Hoai Son, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, also said that building brands for cultural events is crucial to the development of the cultural business sector, creating "soft power" in the current international integration process. However, to build strong brands for festivals, localities, including Hanoi, need to add more appropriate infrastructure and at the same time link with other localities to build service supply chains and enhance the experience for tourists.

It can be seen that cultural festivals are a new driving force for the development strategy of the cultural industry. However, to turn this advantage into a driving force for sustainable development, a long-term strategy, professional management, identity preservation, diverse resource mobilization and community engagement are needed.

Tomorrow (November 7), opening ceremony of Thang Long - Hanoi Festival

Thang Long - Hanoi Festival 2025 with the theme "Heritage - Connection - Era" takes place from November 1 to 16 under the direction of Hanoi People's Committee. The festival includes more than 30 cultural, entertainment and tourism activities held at many locations including: Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam, Ngoc Son Temple, Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square...

On the evening of November 7, the opening ceremony of the Thang Long - Hanoi Festival will take place at the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, including 3 chapters: Chapter 1 introduces typical intangible cultural heritages of the Northern Delta, closely associated with the activities and history of Thang Long - Hanoi and the ancient capitals such as: Xam, Cheo, A Dao, Hat Van along with Hat Van Hue and Cup Dance... Chapter II: Connection - Convergence and inter-regional exchange, a message of expansion, cultural exchange from the three ancient capitals and typical cultural regions of Vietnam. Chapter III: The era - New vitality of heritage towards the future and creative aspirations of the Capital.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/nang-tam-thuong-hieu-le-hoi-festival-van-hoa-722266.html