Saigon AutoFest organizers are planning to give people what they want— lots of noise with plenty of entertainment at a family event with a great deal of stuff for adults and kids to do.

The first-ever annual Saigon AutoFest is set for January 9-10, 2016 in Ho Chi Minh City, the planning committee unveiled in a posting on its website and it will showcase over 100 vehicles. 

It’s not just a car show or automotive themed event, but an event that is suitable for enthusiasts of all ages and it will have plenty of live bands, wine events, cooking contests, horse racing and other fun things for kids.

A wide variety of makes and models will rev up their engines at the festival, everything from dune buggies to street rods, customs, and classics to Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz said the posting.

Canon Photomarathon Hanoi 2015’s winners announced

The photo, by Trinh Trung Dung, wins a grand prize of Canon PhotoMarathon 2015 in Hanoi. (Photo: Canon Vietnam/VNA)

Trinh Trung Dung won a ticket to the Photo Clinic in Japan as he grabbed a grand prize of Canon PhotoMarathon 2015 in Hanoi for his photo in the “Motherly love” category on October 25.

The work depicts an intimate moment of a mother and her child centred in a halo of beautiful sunlight.

Dung has captured a very special moment when the mother was giving her child a kiss of love, Justin Mott, a professional photographer and the judge of the contest, said, adding that he loves the light in the photo.

Dung was also presented with a Canon EOS 6D camera and a PIXMA iP7270 printer.

Besides, this year’s contest in Hanoi awarded first prizes to Nguyen Anh Tuan in “The door” category and Dinh Duy Quang in “Slow living” category.

The entirety of register fees collected from contestants, worth about 180 million VND or 8,060 USD, will be given to “Canon – Vi the he tuong lai” (Canon – For the future generation) charitable fund which supports impoverished students.

Canon Photomarathon is organised across ten countries, bringing together photographic talents from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan (China) and Brunei.

Previously, the competition was held in Ho Chi Minh on October 17.

Co Loa spiral-shaped citadel restoration planning announced

A master plan for restoring the Co Loa spiral-shaped citadel in suburban Dong Anh district, Hanoi, was unveiled by the Ministry of Construction and the municipal People’s Committee on October 26.

Under the planning, the Co Loa citadel will become a national historical-cultural park, covering about 860.4 hectares in Co Loa, Duc Tu, Viet Hung and Uy No communes.

The plan aims to preserve the tangible heritage’s architectural features as well as rural and agricultural environment while improving the living conditions of local residents. It also includes the study of moat restoration and tight control of housing construction in Cho and Chua villages.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Hong Son said that the city has mustered resources to invest in the citadel’s central site and exhibition area to lure more tourists.

The city will repair the rampart and moat systems of the relic site and ask Dong Anh to manage the site’s land and avoid violations or encroachments, he added.

Co Loa, the biggest and most ancient citadel found in Vietnam, was built by King An Duong Vuong between 214 and 208 BC as the capital of Au Lac, one of the earliest Vietnamese kingdoms.

It is believed to be comprised of nine concentric circles, yet only vestiges of three circles can be found at present. They include an 8km exterior wall, a 6.5km polygon-shaped inner wall, and a central 1.6km rectangular wall.

Dancers to depict Brave Soldiers on HCM stage

The Viet Nam Dancers Association will organise a dance show called Hoa Muon Sac (Multi-coloured Flowers) based on contemporary themes and choreographed by the association's members.

The show at the HCM City Opera House on Thursday will be in three parts and bring together popular pieces for the first time.

It will feature more than 200 dancers from six troupes in HCM City and the southern provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Duong and Dong Nai.

Featured performances will be choreographed by People's Artists Vu Viet Cuong and Kim Quy, Kieu Le and Tran Ly Ly, who played a role in the art's development.

Dances with Vietnamese music choreographed by Nguyen Phuc Hai and Nguyen Phuc Hung, who are members of the HCM City Ballet and Symphony Orchestra, will also be included.

Both artists will perform their pieces along with dancers.

They have worked long hours every day with dancers to perfect their two- and three-act ballets.

Dancer and choreographer Dang Linh Nga of the city's Bong Sen Traditional Music and Dance Troupe will perform Vietnamese contemporary dance based on traditional routines.

Nga spent more than 10 years at the Beijing Dance Academy before working as a lecturer at the HCM City Dance School.

Her shows, called Sen (Lotus) and Vu (Dance) in 2011 and 2014 in Ha Noi and HCM City, featured herself and young dancers of the Bong Sen in Vietnamese dance.

The Dong Nai Music and Dance Troupe will send its latest work, Dung Si Rung Sac (Rung Sac Brave Soldiers), a three-act dance featuring heroic soldiers of the Rung Sac Guerrilla Base in HCM City's Can Gio District during the American War.

The show begins at 8pm. Tickets cost VND200,000 (US$9) to VND400,000 ($18) and are available at the theatre at 7 Lam Son Square, District 1.

To expand the art to young people, the organisers will present free tickets to students from universities and colleges at the HCM City Supporting Centre for Students at 33 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1. 

Cheap rail tours start in HCM City

The Saigon Railway Co. and the Ho Chi Minh City Travel Association (HTA) have joined hands with tourism authorities in Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, and Binh Dinh to offer low-cost rail tours between the southern metro and these four southern central provinces.

The Saigon Railway Co. will add a 44-seat coach to existing trains with free wi-fi, food and other facilities.

The tour price will be competitive since the HTA will get discounts from tourism service providers in these places.

HTA has tied up with airlines to offer discounted domestic tour packages for years.

In the first nine months of this year more than 100,000 travellers booked such tours.

Knowledge exchange center opens in town

The HCMC General Sciences Library and Samsung Vina Electronics Co. last week inaugurated a knowledge exchange center called S.hub at the library to support the demand for reading, studying, and exchanging ideas among youths.

S.hub has an audiovisual room which can seat 30-40 people at a time and is equipped with devices including computers and tablets for study and research as well as televisions and projectors for exhibitions and conferences.

The center will organize events such as talk shows, contests and seminars with different themes on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis for young people to share their experience and learn from others. They can find updates about the center or share information at www.s-hub.vn.

Costing some VND6 billion (US$268,920), S.hub is the first knowledge exchange center of Samsung Vina in Vietnam.

Kim Cheol Gi, general director of Samsung Vina Electronics Co., said S.hub is expected to become a good place for young people to study and improve their knowledge.

S.hub is a follow-up of a community project called “Samsung smart library” that the company launched in Vietnam in September 2011. So far, it has helped upgrade 50 school libraries, provide 200,000 books and 300 computers, tablets, TVs and DVDs to serve 50,000 students nationwide.

HCMC General Sciences Library is located at 69 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1.

Fashion collection to support ethnic minorities

A 10-piece T-shirt collection designed by Adrian Anh Tuan was launched at a fashion show on Sunday at Robins Department Store in HCM City's Crescent Mall.

Traditional tho cam (brocade) patterns are combined with the modern T-shirt in the collection. Adrian is the founder of the Valenciani shops and collections, and a judge for Vietnam's Next Top Model 2015.

The Designs from the Village range of T-shirts, inspired by the traditional weaving techniques of K'Long and B'No villagers in Lam Dong Province, are sold exclusively at Robins Department Stores in HCM City and Ha Noi. Profits from the sales will be donated to the villagers.

Robins has also offered K'Long and B'No villagers a dedicated space at Robins Department Store to showcase their beautiful and authentic brocade products.

Adrian Anh Tuan, his team, and representatives of the Central Group, the Thai Group of which Robins Department Stores belongs - visited the villages and workshops around the province, studying designs and techniques that have been part of the village culture for centuries.

VNS/VOV/SGT/VNA