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The former imperial city of Hue welcomed approximately 270,900 tourists, including 117,500 foreigners, in the first five months of this year. The figures showed increases of 17 percent and 113 percent, respectively.
Thua Thien-Hue province has made great efforts to organize Hue Festival 2004, which is scheduled to last from June 12-20, and build Hue into a Festival City. It has spent more than VND 10 billion to upgrade the Ngo Mon Gate Square to accommodate 30,000-50,000 people, where the opening ceremony of the biennial festival will be held. The Duyet Thi Duong theatre has been also upgraded at a cost of VND 7 billion. A gastronomic area has been established on Chi Lang, Huynh Thuc Khang, and Bach Dang roads. The city now also has streets of souvenirs shops and a pedestrian precinct.
To make sure this year's festival is a complete success, the city has prepared more than 3,000 hotel rooms for visitors, and organizers have been busy negotiating with local hoteliers, and house owners to provide sufficient accommodations for all visitors. The festival will comprise three performance stages for specialized festive activities with the participation of art troupes from Viet Nam, France, China, Russia and Argentina.
Hue Festival 2004 also aims to highlight Vietnamese culture and Hue's unique traits, particularly Hue's Nha Nhac (Court Music), which has been recognized as an intangible "cultural world" heritage by UNESCO.
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