Diverse activities commemorate Hung Kings

A Cultural Camp and Festival of Xoan and Phu Tho folk singing are taking place in the northern midland province of Phu Tho from March 26-31, as part of activities to celebrate the Hung Kings Temple Festival.

With the participation of singing clubs and art troupes from universities and districts in the locality, the festival aims to popularise Xoan singing, which has recently earned UNESCO’s recognition as the World Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

A seminar on preserving cultural and historical values of Hung Kings worship rituals opened with many historians and researchers taking part.

Participants also discussed measures to complete a scientific dossier on Hung Kings worship rituals, which is seeking UNESCO’s recognition as the World Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Prof. Phan Huy Le stressed that the worship of the Hung Kings is part of the nation’s custom of ancestor worship, which is the source of internal power to foster national solidarity. The practice has survived many ups and downs in history, with thousands of places of worship dedicated to the nation’s legendary founders across the country.

Dragon, unicorn dances attend Carnaval de Blois

Nearly 100 members of the Vietnam Students Association in Tours and Blois, France, joined in the 2012 Carnaval de Blois and performed the dragon and unicorn dances, which are often included in the traditional Vietnamese New Year festival.  

The dance demonstrated the king, queen and mandarins taking part in the spring festival and praying for peaceful and prosperous nation. Their performance received great applause from the audience.

The Carnaval de Blois, held annually during the first days of spring, celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, drawing a large number of art troupes from across France including 70 performance and circus artists from the La Companie Off and a street group from Tours directed by Philippe Freslon.

Blois Mayor Marc Gricourt said he was pleased with the festival’s preparations and the participation of so many art troupes at the event, as well as the cooperation from Vietnamese people and students which brought an Asian identity and the Vietnamese spirit to the city’s New Year Festival.

Tickets for Big Bang concert released

Tickets for the “Sound Fest 2012” music festival in Ho Chi Minh City on April 14, featuring well-known South Korean pop band Big Bang, talented Thai singer Tata Yong, and a number of local singers, have been officially released at prices ranging from VND500,000 (US$25) to VND2.2million (US$110).

The 10-hour event, to be held by Coca Cola in collaboration with Samsung, will open with cuisine, cosplay and games booths from 2pm to 6:30pm.

Local artists including Buc Tuong, Unlimited, rock band Microwave, Ha Okio, Thao Trang, Tien Dat, Thanh Bui, Suboi, Van Mai Huong, Phuong Vy and Pham Anh Khoa will perform during the event from 2pm, then will join the singers from South Korea and Thailand to rock the air with a big concert at 7pm.

Tickets can be processed at www.soundfest.com.vn or at the Saigon Sound System ticket office at 172-174 Ky Con Street in District 1.

Fans will also have chances to go to the festival for free if they win the promotional program of Coca Cola and Samsung.

“Sound Fest 2012” will take place at Phu Tho Outdoor Stadium at 1 Lu Gia Street in District 11.

VN Got Talent sensation to sing with American flutist

English teacher Vo Trong Phuc, who found instant fame by singing “Home” by Michael Bubble in the first round of the on-going Vietnam’s Got Talent, will perform in a charity event in Ho Chi Minh this weekend.

Phuc will share the stage with American flutist Anne Drummond in a jazzy night to raise funds for poor Vietnamese children born with a cleft lip and/or palate. The show is expected to raise about US$8,000 to cover the surgery fees for 32 young patients.

Born in Seattle, Anne earned a degree in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music but now works primarily as a flutist and composer.

She has given performances around the world, including the Vienna Opera House, Kennedy Center and many other symphony spaces and jazz festivals around the US and Europe.

Jazz Times Magazine once called her a “flute sensation.”

After his spectacular performance in the first round and a broad fan base won overnight, Phuc made it to the final of Vietnam’s Got Talent season by singing James Blunt’s “You are beautiful” two weeks ago.

The jazz charity music event will be held at Thao Dien Village on March 30 by the international non-governmental organization Operation Smiles.

Hue to host beer festival

Hue Beer festival will be held at Thuong Bac Park in Hue from April 6-11.

Organisers hope this year's event will attract at least 20,000 beer fans.

"The Hue Beer Festival has been included in the Hue Festival since 2000. It aims to attract more tourists to the city," said Nguyen Mau Chi, the general director of Hue Brewery Corporation.

"Beer festivals are held in many countries in the world, but it's rare in Viet Nam. We hope the beverage festival will help visitors learn more about Hue and its cultural heritage."

Lotus flowers inspire photographer

The Tigon Hotel in Hue City is hosting a photo exhibition on the celebrated lotus flower by photographer Tran Bich.

The exhibition, which will run from April 5-10, is the 15th the 66-year-old photographer has held in the country since 2009.

All proceeds from photographs will be donated to the elderly and orphans in the city.

Bich has donated VND1.7 billion (US$77,000) from exhibitions to various charities since 2009.

"The exhibition in Hue aims to promote the biennial cultural festival, which will be held on April 7-15. I want to depict the beauty of the lotus, which was chosen as the national flower, in my 15th photo exhibition," Bich said.

Photo show opens Kings festival
 
Selected photos from the Viet Nam Association of Photographic Artists (VAPA)'s sixth international photography contest are on display in the northern province of Phu Tho.

The exhibition displayed 542 photos taken by 354 artists from 38 countries and territories around the world, selected from among 11,000 entries.

This is the first time these photos have been displayed for the public since the contest ended last October.

The exhibition of honoured photos opened at the Hung Kings Museum in the province's Viet Tri City, to celebrate the Hung Kings Temple Festival this Saturday.

VAPA chairman Vu Quoc Khanh appreciated the local authorities' idea to present these photos as a cultural activity in honour of the Hung Kings.

The photos depict culture and landscapes in many countries and would attract pilgrims and tourists flocking to Phu Tho for the festival, he said.

The exhibition, which will be on view until next Monday, would provide an opportunity for Vietnamese and foreign artists to exchange ideas and share experiences.

On the occasion, literature and arts associations from Phu Tho, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue and Ha Noi also displayed thousands of publications introducing Vietnamese culture and traditions.

Hydropower works threaten Gongs Culture Space

Gongs, the typical musical instrument used in festivals of ethnic people in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, is under imminent threat of being lost due to the development of local hydropower projects.

Half of the Gong artisans in the Central Highlands that were mentioned in the national dossier sent to UNESCO in 2005 to register the craft’s World Cultural Heritage status have given up practicing the art, local music researcher Bui Trong Hien shows in his recent study.

“Many villages where I researched to make the dossier for the recognition no longer had Gongs,” the researcher said.

Bluk Blui village at Iaka Town in Gia Lai Province is one of them. According to Nguyen Thi Kim Van, head of cultural heritage of the province’s Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism, after the recognition, no village in Gia Lai has been able to preserve their Gong culture well.

Ro Cham Than, a local official of the town, said that although the locality has guidelines on handing Gongs over to local artisans, they now prefer to receive an organ rather than a set of Gongs.

“Many families with Gongs even sell them to scrap dealers,” he added.

According to some experts on Central Highlands culture, a major cause of the loss of Gong culture in the area is hydropower projects. Since Gong performances are part of ceremonies such as the worship of the Lords of Water and Forest, the culture is falling apart as these resources are depleted by construction work.

“After the Ba River hydropower plan started to work, the river’s flow changed, causing the loss of some traditional worship customs of the local Bana ethnic people,” a researcher said. “They lost their river, their forest. That means they no longer have a chance to worship the Lords of Water and Forest. So what are the Gongs for?” he added.

Truong Bi, vice director of Dak Lak Province’s Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism said the Gong culture began to disappear ten years ago.

“The upstream of the Serepok River has seven hydropower works so far. Waterfalls have no water and people have turned to using water from taps,” Bi added. “Gongs live in the space of festivals. Festivals no longer exist, so Gongs disappear too.”

H’Mut, a local Gong artisan in Iaka Town, agreed with Bi and said that Gongs are now usually used only for funerals. He also added that thieves are another reason behind the loss of Gongs.

“We have to hide the Gongs when we’re on the farm to avoid thieves. Since the UNESCO recognition, the Gongs of several families have been stolen,” he said.