UK band to perform in Hanoi, HCM City

Black Voices, an all-female UK band, will present shows in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from May 20-22.  

They will then deliver master classes for artists at the Vietnam National Academy of Music and Vietnam National Opera Ballet in Hanoi, and at the Music Conservatory and the Ballet, Symphony and Orchestra in Ho Chi Minh City.

British Council Vietnam Director Robin Rickard thanked the band for agreeing to perform in Vietnam and help audiences understand more about the UK's diverse culture.

The event will be part of activities to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, he said.

During the 24 years this group has been performing, it has been invited to entertain the former South African President Nelson Mandela, the late Pope John Paul II and most members of the British Royal Family.

They have also played with some legendary musicians such as Ray Charles and Nina Simone, and worked with Mark Kibble, a member of the American gospel sextet Take 6.

Visitors to their shows can be treated to traditional religious songs from Africa, the Caribbean and the UK, as well as others in the jazz, pop, reggae and gospel genres.

Vietnam impresses visitors at Mexico’ culture fair

Thousands of visitors have dropped in Vietnam’s stand at the ongoing fourth Friends’ Culture Fair, themed ‘Diversity in Harmony’ in Mexico City from May 12-27.

On display are handicraft products including lacquer paintings, palm-leaf conical hats, traditional long dresses worn by Vietnamese women, and films about Vietnam and its people.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrand said the annual event highlights people’s socio-cultural lives, adding that it also promotes sustainable development during global integration.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Mexico is scheduled to hold an exhibition of photographs, books, newspapers and films about Vietnam and its people, culture and the achievements the country has made in its Doi Moi (Renewal) process.

This year’s event is expected to draw over 1.5 million visitors and generate nearly US$65 million in revenue, a large increase on last year’s figure.

Vietnam joins Asia-Pacific heritage month in New York

Vietnam has presented its way of serving and drinking tea at the Asia-Pacific Heritage Month Festival that opened at Stony Brook University in New York , on May 12.

The performance attracted about 150 visitors to enjoy Vietnam ’s tea and learn how to make tea, according to organising board.
Additionally, Vietnam introduced the traditional dress, handicraft items and gave performances of conical hat dances and traditional music at the festival, which drew the participation of the staff of the Vietnamese permanent representative delegation to the United Nations, the Vietnamese Consulate General, the Vietnam Trade Promotion centre and Vietnamese students.

This year’s festival gathered 11 countries and territories in Asia and the Pacific, namely Vietnam, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh, mainland China and Taiwan.

May is named the month of Asia in the US with festivals honouring cultures of Asian-Pacific nations and territories.

Vinh Long Province to host ‘Southern Amateur Music Festival’

The ‘Southern Amateur Music Festival 201’ (Don Ca Tai Tu) will be held in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long from November 15-22.

Music devotees will have an opportunity to enjoy popular Cai Luong songs and be drawn in time and space to sounds and images of boats and waterways of the Southern Region.

Many artists and musicians from Don Ca Tai Tu troupes from cities and provinces nationwide will take part in the event.

The festival aims to keep the tradition of Cai Luong alive in the community and foster a love of this particular kind of music amongst the people.

Documents of Don Ca Tai Tu have been compiled to submit to UNESCO for recognition as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Metropole Hanoi Hotel’s underground shelter open to public

Discovered nearly one year ago, the old underground shelter of Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi Hotel will open to the public as from May 22.

The Hotel’s general director Kai Speth said that the 40-square meter bomb shelter has been well preserved to honour of contributions of Metropole staff to ensuring safety for important guests during the wartime from 1960 to 1972.

Gemma Cruz Araneta, a Filipino journalist, described the shelter in May 1968 as “a long tiny concrete room with green wooden chairs and an electric fan that can be turned into a special discotheque.”

Araneta is expected to visit the shelter together with Bob Devereaux, an Australian diplomat, who engraved his name on the wall of the room in 1975.

Historian Andreas Augustin, author of Metrople’s mysterious history book, is building an exhibition area of the hotel’s historical path dating back to 1901.

The exhibition area will run 18 metres along the hotel’s corridor to highlight Metropole Hanoi’s 110-year history. On display will be photos of the hotel before and after being upgraded, as well as its famous guests, including Charlie Chaplin, Jane Fonda, Joan Baez and Angelina Jolie.

VNN/VOV/SGGP/Tuoi Tre