'Belt and Road' Great Wall International Folk Culture and Arts Festival to kick off in China’s Hebei on Sept. 15

The 2021 “Belt and Road” Great Wall International Folk Culture and Arts Festival is scheduled to run between Sept. 15 and 17 in Langfang and Qinhuangdao cities in north China’s Hebei province to promote international cultural exchanges and cooperation, according to information released at a news conference for the event held on Sept. 7.

A news conference for the 2021 “Belt and Road” Great Wall International Folk Culture and Arts Festival is held on Sept. 7 in Beijing. (Photo/People's Daily Online)

The festival expects the attendance of about 600 guests, including foreign representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in China, foreign diplomatic envoys and arts and culture officials in China, as well as representatives from cultural organizations related to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), art schools and art troupes, inheritors of traditional folk craftsmanship and artists from top performance art organizations at home and abroad.

The event will be jointly hosted by the Hebei Provincial People’s Government and China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In Langfang, the festival will be held at the Silk Road International Cultural Exchange Center, a comprehensive space for arts consisting of four theatres, one concert hall and 14 exhibition centers. Langfang is the main venue for the festival, where the festival’s opening ceremony, as well as a series of other cultural performances will be staged.

Twenty-three online exhibitions, online and offline seminars for Chinese and foreign artists and a carnival for folk arts will also be held during the festival. Furthermore, an exhibition which displays intangible cultural heritage from countries along the Silk Road during a period of 100 years will demonstrate the huge influence of the Silk Road on mutual learning between eastern and western culture.

In Qinghuangdao, the designated parallel venue for the festival, three activities will be held, including a meeting on intangible cultural heritage, a concert, and a photography exhibition.

Xia Yanjun, vice governor of Hebei Province, told the press conference that the festival seeks to serve the co-construction of the BRI, and explore the value of world cultural heritage sites as carried forward by the Silk Road and the Great Wall, along with a spirit of peace, inclusiveness and cooperation, and a development philosophy based on extensive consultation, joint contributions and shared benefits. Xia said the organizer is confident in its ability to build the festival into an open platform for cultural exchanges.

The festival is set to further strengthen international cultural exchanges and cooperation under the framework of the BRI, and make active contributions to people-to-people and cultural exchanges between countries along the BRI, said Xie Jinying, director-general of the Bureau for External Cultural Relations under China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Yang Yanwei, mayor of Langfang, said the festival is a valuable opportunity for the city to accelerate its engagement with the BRI and enhance its reputation and influence among countries engaged in the co-construction of the BRI.