Troupes from around the world will gather to celebrate and help spread the art of puppetry and promote international cultural exchanges in November at a festival in Quang Ninh province.

Water puppetry of Vietnam will be performed at the International Puppetry Festival 2025 in November in Quang Ninh province.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has approved a proposal for the International Puppetry Festival 2025. The ministry's Department of Performing Arts will preside over the festival and coordinate with relevant units to organise it.

At the event, Vietnamese artists will have an opportunity to introduce the country's traditional art form and intangible cultural heritage, water puppetry, to the world.

Artists will also have the chance to gain creative experience and acknowledge other forms of puppetry from worldwide friends, helping enrich the cultural life of the country.

Local cultural management agencies will also objectively assess the current state of puppetry both domestically and internationally, thus contributing to building a long-term preservation and development strategy and promoting Vietnamese puppetry at home and abroad.

In addition, the festival will help spread Vietnam’s reputation for natural landscapes, friendly people, diverse cultural heritage and heroic history, upholding the nation's image as a safe and attractive destination.

Quang Ninh, home to the famous UNESCO World Heritage site of Ha Long Bay, is an ideal stage for international puppetry shows.

Around 12-15 international troupes will take part in the event, with the organisers welcoming a wide variety of genres, including water puppets, rod puppets, hand puppets, shadow puppets and mask puppets.

Programmes, plays and performances that have already earned prizes at previous festivals in Vietnam will not be registered for the event to ensure novelty, creativity and fairness.

For domestic art troupes, participating works must be of high artistic quality, while for foreign groups, performances must have a strong national cultural identity and outstanding artistic value.

The deadline for registration is October 25.

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