The 2015 Ao Dai Festival opened in Ho Chi Minh City on March 7 to honour the Vietnamese traditional dress.

Theevent is part of the city’s activities to promote and popularise themunicipality’s tourism to local and international tourists. It is alsoamong the programmes organised to celebrate the 40th anniversary of theLiberation Day (April 30, 1975-2015).

The event drew the participation of over 40 businesses and esteemed designers.

Inaddition to an exhibition of the traditional dress through the eras andan Ao Dai show, the two-day event included painting and photo contests,a design competition, and talks with prominent Ao Dai designers.

Addressingthe opening ceremony, Nguyen Thi Hong, Vice Chairwomen of the Ho ChiMinh City People’s Committee, stressed tourism is one of the city’s keyeconomic sectors, contributing to the socio-economic development of thesouthern hub and the nation at large.

The City drew over 50,000 visitors when it hosted the event for the first time in 2014.

Inresponse to the festival, themed “Ho Chi Minh City – the city of the AoDai”, all female staff in departments, agencies and companies operatingin tourism will wear the traditional long dress from March 2-13.-VNA