Nearly 4 million visitors to Hanoi flower festival

The capital city has attracted nearly 4 million visitors to its special three-day festival entitled “Hanoi - A destination for streets and flowers”.

The event, lasting from December 31 to January 2, left deep impressions on both domestic and foreign tourists.

Various activities took place during the occasion, including music and dance performances, a flower arrangement contest, and cuisine offerings.

Flower decorations embellished Thang Long Royal Citadel and Van Mieu temple, as well as Giong temple in Hanoi’s outlying district of Soc Son.

HCM City flower and book festivals to welcome Tet

Two big flower and book festivals will take place in Ho Chi Minh City next week to welcome the coming lunar new year, which falls on January 23.

Artisans around Ho Chi Minh City are sprinting to finish the decorations for the annual Nguyen Hue Flower Street Festival, which will be open from January 20-26 in District 1 to celebrate the coming Tet holiday.

Tiled “Vietnam – Que Huong Toi” (Vietnam – My Homeland), the festival will feature traditional Vietnamese cakes for the Tet holiday, including “banh chung,” “banh day,” and “banh tet,” and national costumes like “quai thao” and conical hats, which will be made of thousands of flowers.

A 12m-long and 5m-high model of a dragon, the animal of the year in the lunar calendar, made of hyacinth wood, will also be a highlight of the event. It will be put at the beginning of the street, together with five smaller dragons representing the five basic elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

Painter Minh Phuong, who is in charge of the huge dragon, said her team is willing to work overnight to finish the work on time.

Architect Pham Thi Thuy Ai, designer of the Nguyen Hue Flower Street, told Tuoi Tre that a giant picture titled “Rong Chuc Phuc” (Blessing Dragon), made of around 500 vases of daisies and gerbera flowers together with 5000 lanterns with the wish of a peaceful new year, will be displayed at the end of the street.

More than 300,000 vases of flowers will also be put along the street for spectators to enjoy.

Tran Hung Viet, general director of Saigontourist, the organizer of the festival, said the festival aims to showcase the beauty of Vietnam’s mainland and islands.

“Images of the sea and islands will be featured at the festival in the form beaches, coconut trees and marine animal models made of flowers,” he said. “The light effect will also promise to bring visitors a gorgeous festival.”

At the same time, a book street festival titled “Truyen Thong, Hien Tai va Tuong Lai” (Tradition, Present and Past) will also take place on another stretch of Nguyen Hue Street, as well as Mac Thi Buoi and Ngo Duc Ke streets in District 1.

Themed “Con Duong Truyen Thong” (The Street of Tradition), the event on Mac Thi Buoi will showcase books about Vietnamese history, traditional cultural values, and HCMC in the past.

New books published by local and foreign publishers will be displayed on Nguyen Hue Street together with modern tools for e-books and digital documents under the theme of “Con Duong Giao Thoa Hien Tai Huong Toi Tuong Lai” (The Street of The Meeting between Present and Future).

For its part of “Con Duong Tuong Lai” (The Street of Future), Ngo Duc Ke Street will gather books and documents about the city’s projects in the next few years.

The street also includes children’s and braille books, as well as a play zone for children and book cafés.

The festival, which will gather books from many publishers around the city including Tong Hop, Fahasa, Phuong Nam and Van Hoa Van Nghe, will also hold meetings for visitors with local writers.

Wine gala night closes Da Lat flower festival

A wine gala night, which took place on the night of January 3 in Da Lat city, marked the end of the Da Lat Flower Festival 2012.

Lasting three hours in the misty city of Da Lat of Central Highlands Lam Dong province, the gala attracted the participation of thousand visitors.

Five popular Vietnamese wine brand names, including Da Lat, Vinh Tien, Langbiang, Thang Long, and Ninh Thuan joined foreign brands at the event.

The Da Lat Flower Festival 2012 took place from Dec. 31 to Jan. 3. It attracted 300,000 domestic and foreign visitors.

During the festival, thousands of species of flowers from Da Lat and other localities nationwide as well as other countries were displayed at different locations in the city.

As part of the event, a series activities were also organised, including a street flower parade, a scientific seminar on flowers and a trade and tourism exhibition.

Tree trunk transformed into art piece

Artisan Nguyen Van Ba from Ben Tre has just finished his most recent artwork, a huge gold fish carved out of a tree trunk.

Made from a large-sized trunk of a 100-year-old “mu u,” a tree belonging to the evergreen species with the scientific name of “calophyllum inophyllum,” the fish is 6.3 meters long, has a 6.3 meter perimeter and weighs up to a ton.

Ba said he retained the original shapes and lines of the trunk, which already looked like a swimming fish and only added two eyes and fins.

According to the artisan, the piece can sell up to VND 1 billion (US$ 48,000).

A renowned tree-carving artisan, Ba is currently working on a longan tree trunk, which is 5.5 meters long and has 1.6 meter perimeter, to create a dragon-shaped work for Ben Tre’s Flower Festival. The piece will cost VND 100 million, he said.

Hanoi Goethe Institute to host Germany film week

Hanoi Goethe Institute will hold the Germany film week from Friday to Jan 11 as part of a series of activities in celebration of the New Year.

The event features seven German films including “Soul Kitchen” (2009), “Gravity” (2009), “The cloud” (2006), “Sascha” (2010), “Whisky with Vodka” (2008), “The hairdresser” (2010) and short films (2009 and 2010).

The seven movies will be screened free of charge at 7p.m. everyday during the event at 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in Hanoi.

Dao Hoa Nu launches photography club

After 30 years as an established photographer, artist Dao Hoa Nu has decided to impart her knowledge to the younger generation by launching a Photography Club cum Training Centre on Nam Quoc Cang Street in Ho Chi Minh City.   
 
Dao Hoa Nu is presently a member of the Vietnam Association for Photographic Artists, a member of the International Federation of Photographic Art (Federation Internationale De l'Art Photographique - FIAP) and President of the "HAI AU Photography Club". She is also a member of the Saigon Association of Photographers.

The Club has been launched by Dao Hoa Nu and other outstanding photographers of the Vietnam Association for Photographic Artists.

It aims to help young and amateur photographers to gain knowledge from established photographers. The Club will also enable students to express their love for their motherland, organize activities for members such as sponsored photographic trips to other provinces, etc.

Furthermore, artists can upload their works on the website www.nhiepanhsangtao.com. Their photos will be selected for awards and prizes at photo contests launched by the Vietnam Artistic Photographers Association (VAPA).

"There clearly is a requirement for a training centre, as well as a platform for photographers to showcase their works," Dao Hoa Nu says, "Members of the Club come from all age groups and professions but have a common passion for capturing beautiful images on camera."

The Club has so far attracted many skilled female photographers from HCMC as teaching staff, of which 10 are members of VAPA. It also provides students with valuable information and photography textbooks written by famous world artists like Michael Freeman, John Hedgecoe, etc.

Photographer Thu An, a member of the training staff of the Club said that photography requires creative skills and much hard labor. All members of our club are dedicated and are eager to display their works.

"I appreciate all efforts in establishing the centre for photographers who instill great passion in their work,” said Dao Hoa Nu.

International Prizes awarded to Dao Hoa Nu:
Japan's ACCU prize in 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995
Bronze medal in 1991 in Italy
Compliment award in 1993 in Italy
Compliment award in 1991, 1992 in Sri Lanka
Compliment award in 1990, 1992 in Hong Kong

Her works have been exhibited in many countries worldwide such as England, France, Japan, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos