Chengdu intangible cultural heritage festival opens in June

The 6th International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage will kick off in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, from June 10 to 18, festival organizers announced at a press conference on Tuesday.

June 10, the second Saturday of the month, will also mark China’s first ever “Cultural and Natural Heritage Day,” which was established at the end of 2016 by the Ministry of Culture.

The festival in Chengdu will include a series of international forums and conferences, competitions, performances and other events promoting the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage.

At the conference, representatives from the Ministry of Culture emphasized the importance of provid- ing training for cultural inheritors, as well as getting ordinary people involved in protection efforts in order to keep intangible cultural heritage alive.

Additionally, a total of 1,700 events will be carried out across the Chinese mainland.

The cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Langfang will jointly host an exhibition on intangible cultural heritage in Langfang.

Also in Chengdu, an open- ended intergovernmental working group meeting of UNESCO will be held from June 11 to 13.

First established in 2007, the International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage has been held every two years since.