The sixth edition of the Yue Kiln Celadon Cultural Festival opens in Cixi, a county-level city in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 16. [Photo/people.cn]

The sixth edition of the Yue Kiln Celadon Cultural Festival opened in Cixi on June 16.

The event, which is jointly sponsored by the Zhejiang provincial department of culture and tourism, as well as the Cixi government, aims to further promote celadon culture in Cixi.

Yue kiln celadon was first made in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) in locations including the Shanglin Lake area in Cixi, which was part of Yue prefecture during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and is now a county-level city in Ningbo.

More than 30 cultural events revolving around ceramics are expected to be staged in the city, with some shows making their debut. 

In recent years, Cixi has made great efforts to revitalize celadon culture. It has opened a cultural park accommodating numerous ceramic artisans in Kuangyan town.

Incomplete statistics show that the income generated by the celadon industry and related industries in Cixi exceeded 50 million yuan ($7.69 million), with more than 1,500 people employed in related industries.

Cixi celadon has also been designated as a national geographical indication (GI) product.