Sahaja yogis offer meditation music

Music of Joy – a music group gathering sahaja yoga practitioners will have their debut performance in Ha Noi on Sunday, July 1.

A multicultural group of musicians in Australia, who believe the purpose of music is to create and share joy, the group has performed ancient bhajans – Indian devotional songs. They have also added to their repertoire music from Pakistan, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, England, Israel, Russia and Africa, as well as a number of home-grown compositions by members of the group.

Before the performance in Ha Noi, Music of Joy will also be staged in HCM City on Saturday, June 30. The group's performances in Viet Nam is a part of their Asian tour concert, taking place in Thailand, China, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Co-organised by the Sahaja Yoga Vietnam and Sahaja Yoga Australia, the free concert will take place at Thang Long Ballroom, 7th floor, Melia Hanoi Hotel, 44B Ly Thuong Kiet Street, from 6.30pm.

Cham folk arts performance attracts visitors to Binh Thuan

A programme featuring Cham folk arts has been held every Saturday and Sunday at Po Sah Inu towers in Binh Thuan Province since mid June in an attempt to attract more visitors to the locality.

The 45-minute programme, held jointly by the towers’ management board and the Binh Thuan provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, delights audiences with traditional Cham songs, dances and orchestral performances by artists from the Bien Xanh art troupe.

Earlier this year, a 200-seat performing house was constructed outside the towers with the investment of more than VND 280 million.

Local authorities have asked travel agents to add the programme to their tours and schedules in order to promote it to visitors.

Located on Ba Nai Hill, Phan Thiet City, the Po Sah Inu towers are a unique complex where Cham people hold their cultural and arts activities, and traditional annual festivals such as the Kate festival. The site was recongised as a national constructional site in 1991. In first half of this 2012, it has welcomed more than 25,000 visitors, one-fifth of whom were foreigners.

American Club to hold Independence Day events

The 18th Annual American Independence Day Celebration will take place at the American Club, 19 Hai Ba Trung Street on Sunday, July 1 from 4pm. This American-style picnic features a full schedule of activities to entertain people of all ages and nationalities.

Tropic Lightning Band – a Dixieland brass quintet from the US Army's 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, which is one of the Army's most decorated bands, will perform at the event.

A circus, games, face-painting, contests, fun glow bracelets, a gigantic bouncing air-castle for children, and lucky draw with valuable prizes will be among the event's activities. In addition, guests can test their skills in the third annual watermelon eating contest.

Tickets, which include all the food and drinks, are on sale now from AmCham, (04) 39342790. The cost is VND500,000 for adults; VND250,000 for children age 3-12; and free for children under age 3.

Artist shows off Japanese-style silk paintings

A solo travelling exhibition by the HCM City-based female painter Le Hoang Bich Phuong is taking place at the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in Viet Nam.

Being one of Viet Nam's most promising young artists, Phuong equipped herself with unique styles and techniques of both Vietnamese and Japanese silk painting traditions. Influenced by the ukiyo-e – a genre of Japanese woodblock paintings, as well as the popular world of comics, her artwork's strokes and colour create a surreal presence.

A graduate of the HCM City Fine Arts University, she was awarded an artist-in-residency in Japan and was also among finalists of the DOGMA Art Prize in self-portraiture. In 2010, she was one of the finalists in the Talent Prize of the Cultural Development and Exchange Fund.

Phuong exhibited her artworks in Japan, Thailand and HCM City.

Her Ha Noi exhibition, entitled A Transformative Disguise, opens to public until July 27 at 27 Quang Trung Street.

Movenpick Hotel to put on Bridal Show

The Movenpick Hotel Saigon will hold a Bridal Show at its Grand Ballroom from 10am to 9pm on Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 1.

The show will feature a floral wedding arch created by Bliss Wedding Plan, and introduce the hotel's wedding and bridal partners like D'Art Chocolate, Honey Bees, and Cuu Long Jewellery.

French Institute IDECAF to host film screenings

The Institute of Cultural Exchange with France (IDECAF) will present a series of German and French movies with Vietnamese subtitles in July.

German film Whisky mid Whodka (Whisky with Vodka) will be screened on July 10.

The French screenings will include animation movie Le Triplettes de Belleville (The Triplets of Belleville), Nos Jours Heureux (Those Happy Days), Le Enfants de Timpelbach (The Children of Timpelbach), and Welcome. They will be shown on Saturdays starting on July 7.

Tickets costing VND15,000 are available at the venue at 28 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1.

50s-60s dance party to rock HCM City

The Everyone's a DJ (EADJ) team will present a 50s/60s dance party called Shimmy Shimmy Coco Pop at the La Fenetre Soleil on July 6.

DJs Der Vinh and Jake Catlett will play 50s and 60s rock and roll music, while VJ Discocactus will provide stimulating live visuals for the night.

The event opens at 9pm at the cafe at 44 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1. The entrance fee is VND50,000.

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