Themed “I Love Vietnamese Ao Dai,” this year’s event aims to honor the beauty of the traditional outfit and encourage local residents and tourists to wear the Ao Dai, thus contributing to preserving and upholding the national culture, and promoting the land and people of Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh City in particular.

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Performance of the Ao Dai at the press conference

It is also among the city’s recovery efforts and determination to promote Ho Chi Minh City as an attractive and safe destination after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2022 festival will feature an Ao Dai parade themed “Aspiration for Peace,” art performances, an Ao Dai exhibition, a drawing contest on the Ao Dai entitled “The Ao Dai and Flowers,” and an Ao Dai design competition, among others.

The organizing board has called on Ao Dai tailoring shops and clothing accessory providers to offer discounts for festivalgoers. Travel businesses are also encouraged to stage practical actions in response to the festival by providing discounted tours and presenting gifts to customers, in March and April.

Within the framework of the festival, many tourist sites within the city will offer entrance fee discounts for visitors wearing the Ao Dai.

This year, People’s Artist Kim Xuan, Meritorious Artist Trinh Kim Chi, Meritorious Artist Quoc Co, Meritorious Artist Quoc Nghiep, Miss Vietnam H’Hen Niê, MC Quynh Hoa, singers Kyo York and Nguyen Phi Hung, actor Quoc Truong, and track and field athlete Tu Chinh will work as ambassadors of the event. 

In celebration of the Women’s Day and in response to the festival, the Southern Women's Museum opened an exhibition, themed “The Ao Dai – Figures and Events,” introducing sets of the Ao Dai worn by women in wartime. It also launched a photo exhibition with 60 photos of the Ao Dai from the 19th century.

Translated by Chung Anh