Miss Korean Honey Lee shines in Hoi An

Miss Korea 2006 Honey Lee has arrived in Hoi An Ancient Town for a photoshoot of a fashion magazine.

Honey Lee posted a number of her photos and videos on her website showing her wearing traditional Vietnamese Non La (conical hat) and enjoying cyclo ride.

She came to Hanoi in 2007 to attend a music performance entitled Beautiful Friends Concert to mark the 15th anniversary of friendship between the RoK and Vietnam.

Honey Lee is known not only as a winner of Miss Korea 2006 and Miss Gland Slam 2007 contests, but also a RoK’s traditional music player with four CDs and performance tours of 25 countries across the world.

Top 5 to compete at finals in Big Cola contest

Top 5 finalists from three countries including Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia have been selected to compete in the final round of “Drink Big Cola - Join Asia's Got Talent (AJE)" contest.

The five Vietnamese select contestants include Tran Thai Son, Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh, Nguyen Ba Chung, Phan Tien Lam Thong, and Bui Nguyen Nam Khue.

The organising board will select the winner from the finalists based on creativity, humour, and similar values of Big Cola.

The winner will have a chance to perform live to the audience in the AGT Finale slated to take place in Singapore on May 7.

Previously, the contestants were required to create a video clips to showcase their talents, which were then published for public assessment on Facebook. The videos with the most votes were then chosen to enter the finals.

Exhibition highlights Vietnamese housing

An exhibition featuring models of modern Vietnamese houses designed by architects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and pictures of houses by well-known photographers like Japan's Hiroyuki Oki will open in HCM City on April 24.

The event, titled Seu Do (red crane), is expected to serve as a forum for those working in architecture, construction and interior design and decoration to compare notes on the industry's development and inspire creativity in young architects and students.

The design models offer solutions for building houses with a blend of tradition and modernity and without any negative effects on the surrounding scenery or environment, like the Asian Contemporary leafroofing design by architect couple Pham Thi My An and Michael Charruault.

Others provide ideas for average families to build houses using affordable materials that can survive storms, create privacy for members as well as common space for the family, with air circulation being a priority.

The exhibition will go on until April 26.

Tuyen Quang to host national “Then” singing festival

The 5th National Festival of the traditional “Then” singing of Tay, Nung and Thai ethnic minority groups will take place in the northern province of Tuyen Quang from September 24-26.

The event is part of efforts to promote the traditional art to people nationwide in the name of preserving the folk singing.

An exhibition on the singing style and a workshop on how to preserve and promote the cultural values of the art form will be also arranged.

The festival is expected to offer a chance for Then singing artisans across the country to share their experiences in conserving and upholding the values of the art form.

Tuyen Quang province is home to 64 Then singing clubs with nearly 1,000 local participants.

There are two types of Then singing: “Then ky yen” (praying for good things) and “Then le hoi” (Then festival). The first is performed at rituals while the latter form is to bring cheer and drive away sorrow and hardship in life and is normally used in rituals to pray for good seasons, enter a new home, or “cap sac” (coming-of-age).

The style of singing is traditionally accompanied by a handmade gourd lute called “Dan Tinh” – the soul of the music.

Tuyen Quang has worked with the Vietnam National Academy of Music and other northern provinces of Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, Lao Cao, Lai Chau and Bac Giang – where the music is also practised – to compile a dossier towards seeking UNESCO recognition of the world intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Da Nang: Activities to mark 40 years since southern liberation

The central coastal city of Da Nang will organise a series of activities to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the South and the country’s reunification (April 30, 1975-2015).

Accordingly, an exhibition on Da Nang’s socio-economic achievements over the last 40 years will be held at the International Exhibition Fair Centre from April 22-26.

On April 28 and 29, the 2015 Da Nang International Fireworks Competition (DIFC 2015) will take place with participating teams from five continents.

The 2015 Da Nang International Culture and Cuisine Festival will take place in a park near the city’s Administration Centre from 26-28 April.

A street music performance will be held at 7:30 pm on 25 April on the Bach Dang Street riverside walk.

The city will also organise an exhibition featuring outstanding photos from Vietnamese heritage sites, a cultural festival of the Cotu ethnic minority group and presentations featuring traditional activities of Hai Chau village and the city’s ancient markets.

Local sporting activities will include the Da Nang Badminton Tournament with 255 players from 22 outstanding badminton clubs nationwide.

Da Nang Beach Tourism Season 2015 will be launched at the Eastern Sea Park on Pham Van Dong Street and on local tourism beaches.

The event will include cuisine and beach music festivals, a kayak race, a flash mob show, folk games, beach sports performances, non-powered paragliding shows, a photo exhibition and a bicycle race.

From April 25 to May 20, documentary films will be screened on the southern liberation and national reunification at the Le Do Cinema.

Exhibitions on islands held to mark major anniversaries

Exhibitions of historical and legal evidence of Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracels) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos are being held across the country on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification.

In the central coastal province of Binh Thuan, nearly 100 maps and various ancient documents, artefacts and publications are on display at an exhibition in the island district of Phu Quy from April 23 until April 27.

Among the exhibits are copies of documents in Nom (Vietnamised Chinese script), Vietnamese and French issued by Vietnamese feudal governments and French colonial administration between the 17th and early 20th centuries which demonstrated how Vietnam established, exercised and protected its sovereignty continually over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.

There are also publications and maps published in Western countries during the 18th and 19th centuries, which contain information on Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos.

A similar event opened in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on April 22 under the auspice of the provincial museum.

The exhibits, including more than 100 photos, 50 documents and maps and artefacts and nearly 100 posters, are arranged in five sections. Besides old documents, there are images on the daily life of soldiers and people on the two archipelagos and activities promoting public awareness about sea and island sovereignty held in Thai Nguyen.

The display will go on until May 1.

British Council announces Shakespeare Lives

The British Council on April 23 announced Shakespeare Lives, an unprecedented global programme of events and activities celebrating Shakespeare’s life on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death in 2016.

Shakespeare Lives is an invitation to the world to join in the celebrations by participating in a unique online collaboration and experiencing the work of Shakespeare directly on stage, through film, exhibitions and in schools.

The programme aims to reach over half a billion people around the world.

The British Council and the GREAT Britain campaign are working with host of British theatres, museums, educators and artists on brand new productions of Shakespeare’s plays, film adaptations, public readings and educational resources for schools and English language learners of all ages in the UK and around the world.

Launching this autumn, Shakespeare Lives will run throughout 2016, exploring Shakespeare as a living writer who still speaks for all people and nations.

Activities across English, education and the arts will explore the story of how a playwright from England came to be shared all over the globe.

A major highlight will be All The World’s A Stage, a mass participation project that will invite people from all over the world to upload and share clips of themselves performing lines from Shakespeare plays.

It will culminate in a record breaking, crowd-sourced performance and a new digital version of Shakespeare works.

Research carried out for the British Council in five overseas countries in 2014 showed Shakespeare’s enduring status as the UK’s greatest cultural icon in the eyes of the world.

When young adults were asked to name a person they are interested in and associate with contemporary UK Arts and culture, William Shakespeare was by far the most popular response.

Journalists discuss American War

Nearly 100 Vietnamese and foreigners will participate in a journalism and press workshop focused on the work of journalists during the Anti-American war in Vietnam on April 24 at the National Information Centre.

The workshop is one in a series of three related workshops. The first, titled, Press on War Topic: Theory and Practice, will take place at the Journalism Institute on April 24. The Experience of Using Various Genres of Press during the Revolutionary War in Vietnam workshop is scheduled for April 25 at the Military Guess House.

The series will gather foreign speakers, including Juergen Gimm, Andreas Enzmingder, and Thomas Bauer from the University of Vienna; and Naser Miftari and Remzie Shahini Hoxhaj from the University of Kosovo.

The workshop at the National Information Centre will host 20 veteran journalists of the Vietnam News Agency, Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People's Army) and Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspapers. Tran Mai Huong, Chu Chi Thanh, Pham Hoat and Duong Duc Quang are scheduled to speak about their experiences working as journalists and living through the war.

Forty war photos, taken by domestic and foreign journalists, will also be on display at the National Information Centre. The workshop will start at 2pm on April 24 at 5 Ly Thuong Kiet Street.

Millions to fete Hung Kings

An estimated 6-7 million people are expected to turn out for this year's Hung Kings' Festival, which will run from April 23-28 at Hung Vuong Square in Viet Tri City, Phu Tho Province.

"The authorities will do their best to help locals and tourists enjoy the festival," said Ha Ke San, vice chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. He added that a wide and diverse range of folk cultural activities and events had been planned.

The festival will open with an art performance that will be aired on Vietnam Television's VTV1 channel at 8pm on April 25. It will also include a spectacular fireworks display at the closing ceremony.

Other events include worshipping the founder of the nation and making ritual offerings.

Food contests have also been planned for the festival, which has been organised by Phu Tho in collaboration with Son La, Phu Yen, Dak Nong, Tien Giang and Bac Lieu provinces. A travel promotion fair will be held at the site featuring 70 booths displaying the tourism potential of eight provinces in the north-west region.

Various sporting and cultural activities, including tennis and volleyball tournaments and art shows, will also be held.

San said the province was preparing to ask UNESCO to remove hat xoan (local spring folk singing) from the intangible heritage in need of urgent protection. This is because of the success of the revival movement over the past four years.

There will be various xoan singing activities during the festival, including community performances and performances by artists from villages where the folk art originated. A separate festival for youth singing will also be held during the festival.

San said the organising board would fine hotels and restaurants that raised prices.

The organisers have also set up hotlines (0210.3860026 or 0210.6551666) that will operate 24 hours a day during the festival for use by visitors in case of emergency.

A set of three stamps featuring the Hung kings will be issued today.

The Hung Kings' Festival is held annually from the eight to the eleventh days of the third lunar month in honour of the founders of the nation. The main festival day, which has been a public holiday in Viet Nam since 2007, is on the tenth day, which falls on April 28 this year.

King Hung is the title given to the ancient Vietnamese rulers of the Hong Bang period (2879–258 BC). They were kings of Van Lang.

The first Hung king, Kinh Duong Vuong, came to power in 2879 BC, ruling an area covering what is now North Viet Nam and Yunan in what is now part of southern China. He founded the Hong Bang dynasty, whose members ruled Vietnam until 258 BC.

The second reign of Hung kings was founded by Lac Long Quan, son of Kinh Duong Vuong.

The descendants took the title of Hung Vuong after the first king, and many Vietnamese folktales mention them. Stories tell of the heroics of 18 different ruling periods of Hung Kings (one explains the introduction of the watermelon with the help of Hung Vuong the Tenth).

Although the official name of the festival is the Anniversary of the death of the Hung Kings, the date is traditional and does not mark any specific death date.

L'Espace screens France's hot animation

A few weeks after the premiere in France, the animation Asterix: The Land of the Gods (France, 2014) will be screened at L'Espace from April 28 to May 17.

Launched in late 2014 in 700 theatres across France, the 85-minute movie has earned US$7.64 million in its first week with nearly 780,000 views, ranking first in the highest grossing film list in France. It surpassed two Hollywood blockbusters – The Hunger Games and Interstellar.

Ticket costs VND60,000 and are available at L'Espace, 24 Trang Tien Street, Tel: (04) 39362164.

For more information about screening schedule, please see L'Espace website www.ifhanoi-lespace.com.

Discover Northwest region with FVH excursion

Friends of Vietnam Heritage (FVH) will host a 5-day and 4-night trip to the Northwest of the country on April 25.

The trip will take explorers through the provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La, Lai Chau, Yen Bai and Lao Cai, covering 1,000km. These mountainous regions are home to several ethnic groups such as the Mong, Tay, Xinh Mun, Kho Mu, Muong, Thai and Ha Nhi.

The tour will make stops along the way to visit with and learn about ethnic peoples as well as many historical and scenic spots in the region.

Departure time is 8am on Saturday, April 25. The tour will return to Ha Noi in the evening of Wednesday, April 29.

For more detail, please contact Ms Hang at lethuhang03@yahoo.com.

Laptops exit stage in experimental music night

A special night of experimental music, making sounds with everything but a laptop, will take place on Friday, May 1 at ATK.

No Laptop! My Castle of Low Fidelity will feature local artists Lark Minkous, Vu Nhat Tan and Sound Awakener.

Lark Minkous's musical soundscapes explore the dynamic and contrasting worlds of electronically synthesised sounds and acoustic field recordings. His live performances are unique to the electronic music scene as he does not use a laptop.

Vu Nhat Tan's music is a colourful and fresh improve act. According to New York Times, "Vu Nhat Tan has found inspiration in ancient music, folk music, court music and chamber music from different regions of Viet Nam. For them, the influence has become a peak through the sound sometimes mysterious, sometimes harsh glare of life."

Sound Awakener is the solo music project of the 19-year-old Nguyen Hong Nhung, who quit classical piano training in 2007 to develop her own techniques, focusing on composition and improvisation. A representative of a new generation of Vietnamese sound-art, she focuses on experimenting with random elements.

The music night will start at 8pm at 73A Mai Hac De Street. Tickets cost VND50,000 at the door, or VND30,000 in advance by booking via bigtime.vn.

Free comic book day debuts in HCM City

A Free Comic Book Day will be organised in the HCM City for the first time. The event is annual promotion hosted by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic bookstores.

Twelve sets of comic books will be handed out for free to fans at the Amazing Comics book store on May 2. The book list can be seen at www.facebook.com/amacomics.

The event will begin at 10am. The store is located at 42/5 Nguyen Khoai Street, District 4.

The Cube to host underground music concert

A music concert featuring hip hop, dub, reggae, beats and breaks will be held at The Cube bar on May 8.

It will highlight international DJs and artists Hazard Clique from Europe, Binaural Dropout from the UK, and Viet Nam-based Jase, Stavsounds and Dan Rogers.

The show will start from 9pm at 31B Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1. Entrance is free.

Free music night for students at Cargo Bar

A music concert called After School, offering free entrance for students, will take place at Cargo Bar on April 28.

The show will feature resident DJs and artists like Sol 7, Crown Bandits, Dat Maniac, and Hayline.

The event will begin at 7.30pm. The bar is at 7 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, District 4. Tickets are VND80,000.