Da Lat Design and Arts Festival 2026 Opens

The opening ceremony was attended by Nguyen Thi Quyen Thanh, Deputy Minister of Education and Training; Dinh Van Tuan, Member of the Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee; representatives of professional associations and educational institutions; experts, researchers, artists, lecturers and a large number of students.

An Open Creative Space Inspired by Heritage

With the theme "Understanding Heritage - Creating - Spreading", the festival aims to establish an open creative space where Da Lat's heritage, landscape and everyday life become sources of inspiration for education, research and artistic practice.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Associate Professor, PhD and Architect Pham Trong Thuat, Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture and Head of the Organizing Committee, said Da Lat is an urban area with a distinctive identity, where nature, architecture, culture and art have been shaped and enriched over generations.

Since 2023, Da Lat has been a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Music. This also offers an opportunity for Da Lat's creative story to continue through architecture, fine arts, design and other forms of artistic expression.

Speaking at the festival, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Quyen Thanh highly valued the connection between education and real-world spaces, creating opportunities for students to learn, experience and create through Da Lat's cultural, architectural and landscape values.

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We hope the festival will expand connections among educational institutions, professionals and local authorities, thereby fostering creative thinking, practical skills and young people's responsibility for preserving and promoting heritage values.

Nguyen Thi Quyen Thanh, Deputy Minister of Education and Training

A distinctive feature of DDAA 2026 is the idea of taking learning beyond the classroom and turning Da Lat into an "open studio." During the festival, students from nine educational institutions will observe, sketch, conduct research, create and work on real-world local stories.

Ateliers, workshops, creative camps, academic discussions, exhibitions and artistic exchange activities will create an inter-university and interdisciplinary space where different perspectives meet and generate new ideas.

Turning Da Lat into a Living Laboratory

Through these activities, heritage becomes a source of inspiration, Da Lat becomes a learning space, and local stories become creative subjects for young people pursuing architecture, design and the arts.

At the opening ceremony, Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee Dinh Van Tuan also emphasized that Lam Dong strongly supports the idea of connecting education, research and creative activities with Da Lat's urban space. Connections among educational institutions, professionals, artists and the community are meaningful in bringing out the locality's distinctive cultural, architectural and landscape values.

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The Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee officially proposes that Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture take the lead in establishing a strategic, long-term cooperation mechanism between the locality and a nationwide network of universities, research institutes and professional associations. We are committed to creating the most favorable conditions for experts, lecturers and students to access real-world data, turning Lam Dong into a large laboratory where academic knowledge can be translated into advanced urban governance policies.

Dinh Van Tuan, Member of the Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee

DDAA 2026 is expected not only to produce artworks but also to create connections and ideas that can continue to be developed after the festival, helping promote heritage values and enrich Da Lat's creative space.