First ao dai festival to be held in town

The HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will host the first Ao Dai Festival at Dam Sen Cultural Park in District 11 on March 3 and 9 to mark International Women’s Day.

The festival will feature a wide range of activities such as displaying ao dai (Vietnamese long dress) collection used in offices, festivals as well as wedding ceremonies together with ao dai  accessories, themed exhibition “Vietnamese ao dai through war fire” and workshop on ao dai. Moreover, there will be an ao dai drawing contest and fashion show.

The festival aims to honor the traditional cultural features and charm of Vietnamese ao dai as well as the beauty of Vietnamese ladies. The festival is also a chance to promote the fashion to tourists, an exchange between designers and the public as well as to add a touch of festivity to Women’s Day in the city.

Mekong Arts Club displays 50 works

More than 50 pieces from the Mekong Arts Club are being displayed at HCMC Association of Fine Arts, giving city residents a feast of colorful art.

Nature landscapes and women’s beauty are endless inspirations for artists, so visitors will be taken on a journey to peaceful countryside scenery and stand-out tourist attractions around the country with the charm of women depicted in portraits and daily images.

Visitors will also witness familiar scenery around the city in street corners, river banks, houses and markets. The show also explores family life with images of children going to school with their parents or kids listening to their grandmothers telling stories.

Some sculptures are also on display at the exhibition which runs until March 2 at the association at 218A Pasteur Street in District 3.

Talent search contest begins in March

VK-Pop music talent search contest in Viet Nam will be aired on Viet Nam Television's VTV3 channel from March 15.

Titled Ngoi Sao Viet, meaning Vietnamese Stars, the contest aims to look for talent in multiple art forms such as singing, dancing, playing instruments and composing music.

The jury will include noted artists such as South Korean singer Baek Ji Young, Vietnamese singer Phuong Thanh, K-Pop composer Kim Do Hoon and music producer Shinsadong Tiger.

Fifteen shortlisted candidates will train in South Korea for two months. During that period, the jury will select seven finalists who will compete in the five-week-long final round beginning on June 21.

The finale will be held on July 19 and the winner will walk away with a prize of VND7.5 billion, or US$320,000.

Japanese cherry blossom festival ready to bloom in Ha Noi

The Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival 2014 will take place on March 8 and 9 at the Viet Nam Exhibition and Fair Centre on Giang Vo Street, Ha Noi.

Organised by the Japan-Viet Nam Cultural Association Foundation, fresh cherry blossoms imported from Japan will be on display.

"Japan will organise the transportation of the flowers for the festival, and there will also be artificial plants to complement them," said Vu Khac Lien, head of the foundation.

The event will also feature traditional Japanese activities such as kendo and aikido martial arts, cosplay, folk games, traditional food and yosakoi dance performances by both Vietnamese and Japanese troupes.

"This year's cherry blossom festival will give visitors a new experience. This is a chance for people to find out more about the country, people and traditional culture of Japan, as well as strengthen the relationship between two countries," said one of the organisers.

The first festival was held in Ha Noi in 2007

Film spotlights Thai-VN relationship

The Royal Thai Consulate-General in HCM City has unveiled a 24-chapter documentary about Thailand and Viet Nam which will be aired on HCM City Television and VTC next month, in a move to deepen the relationship between the two countries.

The documentary was initiated by the Thai consulate-general to commemorate bilateral relations between Viet Nam and Thailand and elevate it to the level of "strategic partnership". This was officially announced during a visit to Thailand in June 2013 of Communist Party Secretary-General Nguyen Phu Trong.

Each chapter of the documentary is a ten-minute episode focussing on the stories that make up the foundation of the relationship between the two countries, as well as news coverage of the bilateral relationship, such as an exchange of high-level visits and charity programmes by Thai agencies in Viet Nam.

Among those who were involved in the projects are Tran Viet Trinh, director of Tro Ve 3 (Return 3) partially filmed in Thailand, and Hoang Ngoc Hung, president of the Association of Overseas Vietnamese in Laos-Thailand, as well as Thai expats in Viet Nam and others.

Characters in the documentary took the opportunity to share their experiences and thoughts on the crucial role of people in fostering a closer bond between the tow nations over the past few years.

The Thai Consul-General in HCM City, Panpimon Suwannapongse, who initiated the documentary, told local media that initially she wanted to make a brief documentary about Viet Nam and Thailand, but with the encouragement of Thai and Vietnamese friends, she decided to make a longer documentary.

More documentaries like this will be made in the future, as a way to deepen the relationship between the two countries in the future, as well as bolster the mutual understanding of their peoples, paving way for them to join the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.

During the press meeting, Hoang Ngoc Hung, a Vietnamese person living in Thailand, who was filmed in the documentary, said that he was born in Laos in 1946, and later migrated to Thailand. He and his family have received much support from the Thai community.

The premiere of the documentary was organised in the presence of Nuttavudh Photisaro, deputy permanent secretary for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and other Thai and Vietnamese officials.

The documentary is scheduled to air once a week in HTV4 and VTC9 starting in March 2014.

First standard library opens in HCMC

HCMC Education Development Foundation in collaboration with Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) on Monday opened the city’s first standard library at Lac Long Quan elementary school in District 11.

The library meets the standards of area and school supplies. It covers 232 square meters, is equipped with a number of rooms for reading, learning English, playing modern musical instruments and especially a room for traditional Vietnamese musical instruments.

The total construction cost of over VND1.8 billion was funded by ACB.

Nguyen Thanh Toai, deputy general director of ACB, said the bank is likely to spend nearly VND20 billion for educational development in 2014. ACB has staged many educational activities in recent times such as building schools, offering grants to university students and making a contribution to Saigon Times Foundation to offer scholarships to poor but hard-working students.

Vietnam, South Africa seek wine cooperation

The Embassy of South Africa in Vietnam, Honorary Consul for South Africa in Vietnam, Do Thi Kim Lien and the South African Wine Association held a workshop and exchange meeting to mark the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the countries.

Taking part were South African wine makers, Vietnamese wine importers, businessmen, ambassadors and general consuls from a number of countries, along with experts from the wine industry in Vietnam.

Along with activities to promote the nation, people, culture and food of South Africa, the event also opens a cooperation opportunity for businessmen in both nations’ wine industries.