Fun run, music fest to be held in District 2

The annual Colour Me Run fun run and a music festival will be held in District 2 on April 11. Participants will be splashed with coloured powder during the 5km race.

It will be followed by a concert featuring famous international artists including American rapper and producer T-Pain, American-British-Canadian girl group G.R.L., and Singaporean DJ duo Atran and Manfred.

The event will take place from 3pm to 10pm at Truong Van Bang Street.

The Art of Remixing to open at Goethe

Artists from Berlin will hold a workshop on the production of electronic music as part of the 2015 Berlin Clubnacht c/o Ha Noi Sound Stuff Festival 2015.

Called The Art of Remixing, the English-language event will be held on Saturday, April 11 from 2 to 4 pm at the Goethe Institute.

Chi Thanh, a German-Vietnamese producer and DJ, will reveal some secrets about how DJs work. He will explain how original music can be incorporated into classic DJ sets.

To pursue his artistic ambitions, Chi Thanh is using the TRAKTOR soft- and hard-ware produced by Native Instruments. At his workshop, he will show attendees how to use the TRAKTOR system.

Registration lasts until April 10. Contact Pham Thi Kim Chung at (04) 37342251/2/3, ext 36 or email kimchung.pham@hanoi.goethe.org.

New York jazz diva returns to Le Club

African-American jazz singer Kathryn Farmer has returned to Ha Noi perform at Le Club, a jazz bar in Ha Noi.

Born in New York City but raised in nearby Westchester County, Farmer's parents owned a soul-food bar called Farmer's Midway Restaurant featuring regular weekend performances by noted musicians. Farmer grew up with jazz constantly present in her life.

After graduating from New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, she started performing with legends like Eddie Chamblee, Kirk Lightsey, David Hazeltine and John Hicks. She is not only a jazz, soul and R&B singer, but also an arranger, composer, lyricist and pianist. Kathryn has performed on stages from New York City to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Kathryn will perform at Sofitel Legend Metropole Ha Noi's Le Club from Tuesday to Sunday at 8.45pm until August 30.

Int'l music festival set for Hanoi Rock City

Hanoi Rock City will host the International Music Festival tomorrow night, featuring various Ha Noi bands.

The festival is part of a series of philanthropic concerts, held in 70 cities, featuring local and up-and-coming artists. Participating bands are eligible to win an all-expenses-paid world tour through Europe and Africa.

All net proceeds go to CHOSA (Children of South Africa – chosa.org) and Musary, a music lending library located in Boston (themusary.org).

Tomorrow's festival, which starts at 8pm, will include performances by WAAH, Mimetals, Ngot (Sweet) and 18+.

Ticket costs VND75,000 and are available at the door. Hanoi Rock City is located at 27 To Ngoc Van Street, Tay Ho District.

City gallery celebrates 10th anniversary

ZeroStation, a complex including studio and space for exhibiting, will hold a contemporary art exhibition called Dynamic Black and White on Sunday.

On display are works featuring doodle art, line art, graffiti and digital art created by the studio's young Vietnamese artists.

The exhibition will close on April 12. The venue is at N. 12, 43rd road, Lam Van Ben Perpendicular in District 7.

Gap between art, public explored

Works from 33 artists of different generations are on show at the March: Art Walk exhibition, which aims to narrow the gap between contemporary art and the general public.

The exhibition, organised by Sao La and Freeland (Viet Nam Freelance Hub), is being held at Sao La gallery in HCM City.

The works include painting, photography and sculpture as well as installation, video, performance, experimental music and multimedia pieces.

The artworks depict "personal messages, subjective statements about various social issues or the strong yet interesting personalities of the artists", Sao La says in a press release.

The exhibition, which runs until May 9, is a part of a bigger community art project with the same title being hosted at four spaces in downtown HCM City – Sao La, Le Cong Kieu Station, Freeland, and Studio Nguyen Cong Tru.

Da Nang to hold first Light Festival

The central city will host its first ever mega light festival, the Da Nang International Light Festival 2015, from April 24-26.

The general manager of Global2000, Heng Ken Hau, said it would also be the first time a world class light festival had been held in Southeast Asia.

Heng said the light festival would be a prelude for the seventh Da Nang International Fireworks Competition to celebrate the country's Reunification Day on April 30.

"We want to transform Da Nang into a spectacular canvas of light, music and art during the festival," Heng said.

The city targets to attract one million visitors to watch both the first edition of the light festival and the fireworks competition.

2015 Summer Book Fair to open

In response to Book Day, which falls annually on April 21, the 2015 Summer Book Fair will be kicked off at 9am on April 11 at Heritage Space, 17 Tran Binh, My Dinh, Hanoi.

The book fair is expected to attract the participation of nearly 20 publishers and prestigious bookstores across the country, such as the Writers' Association Publishing Houses, Tre (Youth) Publishing House, Kim Dong Publishing House and Alpha Books.

Aiming to create an exciting environment for book lovers to gather in, especially for children during the summer holidays, the fair will feature tens of thousands of titles of various genres.

Numerous programmes will also run to promote reading culture among young people.

Under the framework of the event, Heritage Space will also organise many workshops on art literature featuring the participation of well-known writers, poets and book reviewers.

The fair will run until April 20.

Australian singer-songwriter at Decibel Lounge

Clancy Weatherald, Australian songwriter, singer and guitarist, will appear at Decibel Lounge on April 10. The musician, who has performed in Australia for seven years, will play covers of popular songs by the Rolling Stones, Beatles and John Mayer.

The show will start at 9pm at 79/2/5 Phan Ke Binh Street in District 1. Admission is free.

Bring your pillow to International Pillow Fight

Wake up Saigon, the group that creates events to "bring a little surrealism to daily life", will host a pillow fight at the December 23 Park on Saturday to celebrate International Pillow Fight Day.

Participants of all ages can join the event at 1pm. They are asked to bring soft pillows without zippers, tassels or metal items.

Flower street portrays Thanh Hoa as land of heritage

Le Loi street in the central province of Thanh Hoa is decked out in flowers to herald the 2015 National Tourism Year that has the theme “Connecting World Heritages”.

The street, opened from April 1-8 by the provincial People’s Committee and the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association, looks to honour local and national cultural heritage values.

Visitors could see prominent world and national cultural heritage reproductions converged on the street, such as the Citadel of the Ho Dynasty (Thanh Hoa), Ha Long Bay (northern Quang Ninh province), Thang Long imperial citadel (Hanoi), Ninh Binh ancient capital in Trang An landscape complex, Ngo Mon (Noon Gate) in Hue imperial city, Hoi An ancient town, and My Son holy site (central Quang Nam province).

They are also able to tour popular tourist attractions in the province such as Ham Rong bridge, Ba Trieu temple, and Lam Kinh historical relic site.

The same day, the provincial People’s Committee coordinated with the Ninh Binh provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to kick off a photo exhibition featuring the national flower lotus and the historical relic sites, trade villages, and traditional customs of northern Ninh Binh province.

Ninh Binh is home to a number of must-see destinations, including the Trang An tourism complex - a UNESCO-recognised cultural and natural heritage site, Tam Coc–Bich Dong caves, Phat Diem stone church, Cuc Phuong National Park, Van Long Nature Reserve, Kenh Ga hot springs, and Bai Dinh pagoda – the largest Buddhist cultural and spiritual centre in Vietnam.

The exhibition aims to connect world heritage in the central province of Thanh Hoa with those in other cities and provinces across the country.

The 2015 National Tourism Year will open on April 3 in Thanh Hoa province with a special art performance featuring Vietnamese world intangible cultural heritage such as “nha nhac” (royal court music), “quan ho” (love duet) of Bac Ninh, Vi-Dam singing (two kinds of folk music from central Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces, and “don ca tai tu” (amateur singing).

Hanoi conservatory alums meet in Berlin

A music gala put together by formers students of the Hanoi Conservatory of Music, the first of its kind, will be held at Viet House in Berlin on April 4.

"More than one hundred artists and their relatives, from Canada, Hungary, Belgium, the UK, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Poland, have registered to join the gala," said organiser Tran Phuong Hoa.

The event is being held by an overseas group of former students who graduated from the Hanoi Conservatory of Music, now the Vietnam National Academy of Music (VNAM).

It aims to connect old schoolmates to recall old memories, exchange views on daily life and most importantly, to allow actors from around the world to perform music and arts, said Hoa.

"We plan to promote Vietnamese music to the world while inspiring young locals with traditional music passion," she said.

Phan Quan, a who settled in Berlin nearly 20 years ago, said he and his family were excited to be taking part in the gala because it would be a chance for us to meet friends from other countries, and enjoy traditional Vietnamese music performed by artists from VNAM.

"We are ready to help the organisers to hold an event like this twice a year," said Quan.

However, she said that a number of famous artists were getting old and lived far away, so it would be difficult for them to take part in the gala.

"Despite many difficulties, we plan to organise these events once or twice a year in different countries to meet and play music together," Hoa said.

Phu Yen: vibrant life in Vung Ro historical site

The historical relic site of Vung Ro, Dong Hoa district in the south central coast of Phu Yen province is remembered in history as a secret port where no-number ships from the north anchored to deliver food and weapons to the frontlines of South Central and Highland provinces during the war from 1955-1975.

Today, Vung Ro is not only renowned for its natural beauty, but also as a dynamic destination for many critical industrial projects, fuelling the province’s economic development.

Located 30 kilometres south of Tuy Hoa city, Vung Ro is home to numerous key projects including the Deo Ca Pass Tunnel, Bai Goc International Port and the Tuy Hoa Airport, facilitating access between the province and other localities and stimulating economic development.

The government has also approved the Vung Ro refinery project, an integrated petrochemical complex with 3.1 billion USD in investment capital and a designed capacity of 8 million tonnes a year. Construction of the refinery is slated to begin in 2016.

Covering 583 hectares of land, the project is expected to generate 1,300 jobs and contribute 111 million USD to the State annually.

Chairman of the Dong Hoa district People’s Committee Le Thanh Nghiem said such projects will help boost local and provincial economic development.

Vung Ro has also turned in to an attractive tourist destination, as Vung Ro Bay is ranked among the top 10 most magnificent bays in Vietnam with its beautiful sandy beach and coral reefs.

Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Pham Van Bay said a number of domestic and foreign investors are conducting field research for large-scale tourism projects.

Vung Ro has transformed itself into a blooming economic-tourism hub in the province and greater region.

Quang Nam, Thua Thien-Hue to develop maritime tourism

Culture, sports and tourism sectors and travel firms in the central provinces of Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam launched a wide range of activities to promote their development of maritime-based tourism on March 30-31.

The move was supported by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The localities plan to develop community-based tourism in fishing villages along with introducing traditional cultural activities and trade villages to visitors.

Vice Chairman of Quang Nam province’s People Committee Nguyen Chin said local authorities will enhance links with surrounding provinces to build tourism networks in the central region.

On the occasion, the Quang Nam co-operative union launched a centre displaying products from local trade villages to introduce handicraft products to domestic and foreign tourists.

Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue have implemented a UNESCO-funded project to promote responsible and sustainable tourism development with a total investment of 900,000 USD. With a focus on developing green tours, the project contributes to improving the livelihoods of local residents.

Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam boast famous beaches and world heritage sites, laying a strong foundation for the maritime and island tourism industry.

Early this year, the two localities unveiled a joint campaign to promote tourism, including introducing the "paradise-like beaches, islands, and world heritage sites" campaign.

Local fan receives Chelsea FC jersey

Local mobile carrier Vietnamobile has announced Pham Huynh Hoai Phong from HCMC’s Thu Duc District as the winner of a special gift, a Chelsea Football Club jersey with signatures of Chelsea players.

Phong is the highest usage subscriber of a Chelsea FC Sim in February 2015. This is one of many such monthly awards over the course of the Chelsea FC – Vietnamobile sponsorship deal. This year also marks Chelsea Football Club’s 110th anniversary.

Vietnamobile launched Chelsea FC Sims in 2014 with many promotions and exclusive benefits for Chelsea FC fans in Vietnam. The account balance will be automatically added by VND1,000 after each goal Chelsea scores or VND3,000 after each match won. In addition, customers receive a 50% discount for on-net calls amongst Chelsea FC Sims and 100% top-up bonus on the first 10 reloads of at least VND20,000 each.

The mobile carrier will continue to give out monthly prizes for customers of Chelsea FC Sim over the coming months.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT