Int’l Fashion Fair opens

Vietnam International Fashion Fair (VIFF) 2012 opened in Ho Chi Minh City on October 12.  

This is an annual event organized by Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) to advertise home-made products to both Vietnamese and international customers.

It has a total of 300 stalls put up by more than 100 businesses, up 20 percent compared to last year.

The six-day fair is expected to show the competitive potential of the garment and textile sector in the context of global economic slowdown, said Hoang Ve Dung, Deputy General Director of Vinatex.

HTV singing contest begins tonight

The HCM City Television annual singing contest Tieng Hat Truyen Hinh (TV Singing) will hold its first of four shows tonight, Oct 12, with the performances of eight finalists.

The shows, to be held every Friday, will feature finalists who will sing songs of different genres and on selected topics, including patriotic as well as folk and pop compositions.

In the grand finale on November 9, the four best contestants will perform by themselves and then sing a song with a pop star or judge.

The winner will be decided by the votes of audiences across the country. The winner's prize is VND100 million ($5,000).

Last month, more than 1,200 people aged 16 to 25 competed in the auditions for the contest.

Sene Dolta festival celebrated in Can Tho

More than 500 Khmer Buddhist monks and their compatriots in the Mekong River Delta gathered at a meeting organised by the Southwest Steering Committee in Can Tho City on October 10 to mark the Sene Dolta Festival 2012.

On behalf of the Party and State, Steering Committee Deputy Head Huynh Minh Doan congratulated all the Khmer people in the southwest region on the occasion.

The Committee also called on Khmer people and monks to uphold their patriotism and solidarity, contribute further to national development, and continue the struggle to disable hostile forces attempting to cause social unrest in the country.

The lives of Khmer people have improved considerably over the past few years. The number of poor Khmer households has decreased by 3-4% annually and nearly 80% of households now have access to electricity and clean water.

So far, more than 105,000 houses have also been built for underprivileged Khmer households in the southwestern region.

Sene Dolta is one of the largest Khmer festivals commemorating and paying tribute to their ancestors and predecessors who established and developed the Khmer community.

On the occasion, the Steering Committee presented Sene Dolta gifts to monks, nuns and Buddhist venerables representing 13 Mekong Delta cities and provinces.

Nhu Quynh works as jurywoman of Hanoi Int’l Film Festival

People’s artist Nhu Quynh has been chosen as a member of the feature film jury for the second Hanoi International Film Festival (Haniff) scheduled for November 25-29.     

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Jan Schuette, a German famous stage director, has been appointed president of the same jury.

Other jury members include Iran’s actress Taraned Alidoosti, New Zealand’s actor Cliff Curtis and Indonesia’s stage director Garin Nugroho.

Vietnam’s meritorious artist Nguyen Vinh Son is president of the short film jury and national meritorious artist Nhue Giang-a member of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) jury.

The Cinematography Department has selected over 30 Vietnamese films, including 7 on the theme of Hanoi, 16 on Vietnam’s Doi Moi (Renewal) process and 9 on present-day Vietnam.

Festival to promote Cham culture

The Kate Festival celebration of the ethnic Cham people will take place at Po Sah Inu Tower in Binh Thuan Province's Phan Thiet City on October 15-16 with a series of traditional rituals and festivities.

The festival, which aims to preserve traditional culture of the Cham and to promote Binh Thuan's tourism sector, will include a procession of palanquins and costumes of the Po Sah Inu Goddess, a ceremony to open the tower gate, the washing of the altar for linga, and a yoni ceremony.

It will also feature traditional music performances, goods fair, brocade-weaving contests, pottery, cake-baking and folk games. A contest on making and arranging offerings for the Goddess of the Cham people and a fashion show of the Cham's traditional dress will also be featured.

Tourists will be instructed on how to play musical instruments like the Ginang and Baranung drums and the Saranai horn, and will enjoy folk-music performances by Cham artists from Ma Lam Town and the districts of Ham Phu and Ham Tri.

New music, drama show for tourists

A new show, Ngoc Viet (Viet Nam's Pearl) that features the arts of the country targets tourist audiences, particularly foreigners. The show, held every Thursday and Sunday at the city's Workers Cultural Palace in District 1 from 7:30-8:30pm, is organised by the city's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Youth Theatre Company.

The programme, which debuted yesterday, Oct 11, at the palace's Non La Theatre, features the country's UNESCO-awarded intangible cultural heritage and folk arts, including hat boi (Vietnamese opera), drum performances, dan da (stone musical instruments), nha nhac (Hue royal music), lion-dance gongs and Central Highlands' percussion performances.

HCM City has three art programmes for tourists, traditional water puppetry (held six times a day) at Viet Nam's History Museum in District 1, Hon Viet (Viet Nam's Soul) held monthly on the 15th and 23rd at the city's Opera House and Rong Vang (Golden Dragon) water puppetry twice a day at the Workers Cultural Palace.

VNN/VOV/VNS/ND