THE seventh International Festival of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will be held in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, from Oct. 17 to 22.

The festival will be jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT), the government of Sichuan Province, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the National Commission of China for UNESCO, the MCT said at a press conference last week.

The festival will kick off with an art performance at the opening ceremony and feature an international forum on intangible cultural heritage as well as other supporting activities, said Zhao Hongchuan, an official with the Sichuan provincial department of culture and tourism, at the press conference.

Participants from nearly 100 countries and regions will attend the festival.

Initiated in 2007, the biennial event aims at promoting the preservation of intangible cultural heritage and has attracted more than 4,000 representatives from over 130 countries, regions and non-governmental organizations over the past few years, said Xie Jinying, an official with the MCT.

This year’s event will also include a UNESCO capacity building program for personnel from more than 20 signatories of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region, Xie said.

“The festival has become an international platform for sharing the experience of intangible cultural heritage preservation and enhancing the dialogue among different civilizations,” said Hu Yan, a senior ministry official.

Highlighting progress made by China in this regard, Hu said that China’s State-level intangible cultural heritage list has had 1,372 items, 40 of which have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

A total of 3,068 State-level inheritors of intangible cultural heritage have been accredited, he said.

The central government has earmarked 5.4 billion yuan (US$762.71 million) for the preservation since 2013, while an additional 4.6 billion yuan has been provided by local governments, he added.

(Xinhua)