In Hue Festival 2014, the Royal Palace By Night will be a breakthrough in contents that wishes to be more attractive. By inheriting and enhancing the strong points of previous Hue Festivals, the Royal Palace by Night 2014 will be modified to meet the desire of different guests.

The Royal Palace By Night 2014 begins with the worshipping for the Holy Canon at 18:45 PM at the House of Nine Holy Canons behind The Nhon Entrance. The “Shooting” ceremony will be included to honor the national treasure. Next, there comes the Change of Guards in front of Ngo Mon Gate.

In the imperial City, the Royal Palace By Night is organized in three areas namely the Central axis, the west and East of Thai Hoa Palace.

At the Central axis (from the Trung Dao Bridge to Hoa Binh Gate in the north), it is highlighted with different areas for the guest welcoming cared by the maidens, the Oriental Night, the Royal Games and Ancient Hue Entertainments, Royal Party, the Harem Life, Hue Traditional Play’s Mask Installation, the Royal Audience Ending Ceremony, the Royal Meal’s Equipment Exhibition, the Emperors’ Calligraphy, Hue Royal Design, and so on.  

The west of Thai Hoa Palace includes such highlighted areas as the Nine Holy Urns at The Mieu Temple, Vietnamese Sounds and the Grand Empress’ guest welcoming at Dien Tho Residence; and the Princess’ wedding at Truong Sanh Residence. The East of Thai Hoa Palace emphasizes the Co Ha royal garden discovery combined with the royal dances, royal plays, rehabilitated sceneries of young royalties’ daily activities, Hue Chamber Music, the brick submitting ceremony at the House of Internal Affairs, and the royal guards’ martial art practicing at the East Bastion.

 The Royal Palace By Night may remind tourists of the life of harem with different daily activities. Everything seems to be appeared with splendid and mysterious colors. The history will be revealed from Ngo Mon Gate to Thai Hoa Palace, Can Chanh Palace, Can Thanh Palace, and Khon Thai Residence, etc.; or from The Mieu Temple to Dien Tho Residence, Duyet Thi Duong Theater and Co Ha royal garden, so on.

 Dr. Tran Van khe commented on the Royal Palace By Night that: “the games included in the Royal Palace By Night are well research and interesting. Many of them remind me of my childhood. My maternal grandfather was interested in the bamboo stick throwing, which is a highlighted game in the Royal Palace By Night. Besides, the existence of poetry and traditional music in the program is valuable. In my observation, the game called Poem Guessing attracts the youth. That game requires the sense of literature and culture. Only the Royal Palace By Night can manage to reflect all of those things.”

The Royal Palace By Night 2014 hopes to bring about new emotions that could reach every sense of participants. The light, the smoke, the fire, the performance and exhibition will attract the sight; the smell of aloe wood, lotus, incense at the entrances of the Imperial City will attract the nose; the sounds of music performance, game, nature and human will attract the ears; the gastronomy will attract the taste; and the games, lanterns and royal costumes will influence the touch.

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The Royal Palace by Night will give good impression on sounds, color, pictures of historical rehabilitation, royal games and the friendliness of Hueans. It is hoped that the Royal Palace By Night 2014 will meet the particiants’ interests.

Artisan Ho Thi Hoang Anh