A bird's-eye view of the ao dai mass performance. (Photo: VNA)

At the event, participants in ao dai created a giant ancient tree at HCM City’s centre, which aimed to convey a message of a green and peace-loving city.

At the opening night.

The Sixth Ao Dai Festival officially kicked off on March 2 night in the Nguyen Hue pedestrian street, drawing numerous visitors.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vice Standing Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem said that after five years, the festival has become a well known culture-tourism event of the city and made contributions to the conservation and development traditional cultural values of the nation.

He expressed his expectations that activities of the festival will promote tourism of Vietnam in general and HCM City in particular to international friends.

The ceremony featured 15 collections of Vietnamese leading ao dai designers like Thu Thuy, Lien Huong and Viet Hung, along with a collection by a designer from the Republic of Korea, introducing Vietnam’s ao dai from the perspective of international friends.

Performance at the opening night.

About 15 activities and programmes will be arranged during the Ao Dai Festival, which runs through March 17, across various tourist spots of HCM City, such as Bui Vien and Nguyen Hue pedestrian zones, the city’s post office, the War Remnants Museum, the Ao Dai Museum and public places.

The event also draws the participation of 26 leading ao dai designers across the nation.

H'Hen Nie at the opening night.

Miss Universe Vietnam 2017 H’Hen Nie, who was among top 5 of Miss Universe 2018, will be one of the representatives of the festival.

Since 2014, the HCM City Ao Dai Festival has been held annually in early March. The festival aims to honour Vietnam’s traditional costume and promote HCM City’s tourism to domestic and foreign visitors.

VNF