Film jointly produced by Vietnam, RoK scores success

A scene from “Em la ba noi cua anh”.

“Em la ba noi cua anh” (You are my grandmother) – a Vietnamese version of the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s famous movie “Miss Granny” – has become the most watched Vietnamese movie with a record box office gross.

The RoK-based CJ E&M Corporation, the co-producer of the movie, announced on February 19 that as of February 17, the movie’s box office revenue reached 4.76 million USD since it was screened in Vietnam on December 11.

Earlier, the most watched Vietnamese film was “De Mai Tinh 2” (Fool for love 2), which was also coordinated by Vietnamese and RoK filmmakers, with a total revenue of 4.75 million USD.

According to the CJ E&M, original Miss Granny tells the story of a 74-year-old grandmother who comes out of a photo studio as her 20-year-old self. It attracted 8.65 million viewers in Korea.

Its Chinese version also made a record in the most populous nation, while its Japanese version will be introduced to the public in April.

Actress returns after 13 year break to star in feminism series

Actress returns after 13 year break to star in feminism series

Actress Mai Thu Huyen will star in the second season of the Candles at Night series directed by director Nguyen Khai Anh. She will be joined by leading actors Chi Bao and My Uyen.

The first season of the series, which was broadcasted 13 years ago, tells the story of a young designer Thanh Truc. Though she has experienced many up and downs, including drug addiction and infertility, Truc still nurtures hope for the future.

In this season, Truc becomes owner of a famous fashion brand. In the risk of losing happiness and business, she sometimes feels desperate.

The role of Truc has made Huyen famous, and many people still call her Truc. That's the reason why she decided to star in the second season as the main character and co-producer.

"The film praises women's power and will, but it's not too serious and still romantic and beautiful," she said.

The season also features many models such as Binh Minh, Duong Yen Ngoc, Andrea Aybar and Ky Han. The series will premiere on February 24 on VTV3.

Bac Kan ethnic groups celebrate Long Tong Festival

Ethnic groups in the northern mountainous province Bac Kan held the Long Tong (Going to the field) festival on February 16-17 (the ninth and tenth days of the first lunar month) at Ba Be Lake in Nam Mau Commune, Ba Be District.

During the two day event, locals from Tay, Mong, and Dao ethnic minority groups in Ba Be and Cho Don Districts, as well as visitors, flocked to Ba Be Lake for the annual festival - a tradition of the Tay ethnic group.

The festival began with a traditional offering ritual of local specialties to gods to pray for favourable weather and healthy crops as well as health and a happy life.

The event also featured a wide variety of cultural and arts activities, attracting a large number of local people and visitors.

In addition, numerous traditional folk games were held, such as bull fighting, bit mat bat de (catching a ball while blindfolded), con throwing (a game throwing a cloth ball), and dug-out canoe racing, with decorations of floating flower garlands and coloured lanterns.

Joining the festival, in addition to enjoying the beautiful and imposing scenes of Ba Be Lake, visitors had a chance to learn more about the lives and traditional culture of the local ethnic people.

Long Tong Festival in Ba Be has been a tourist attraction on the occasion of the Lunar New Year for many years.

Numerous visitors flock to Bac Ninh for Lim festival

Tens of thousands of visitors from across the country on February 19 flocked to Tien Du district, Bac Ninh province to attend the 2016 Lim Festival, dedicated to ‘Quan Ho’ (love duet) singing.

Lim festival, one of the major festivals in Bac Ninh province, is held annually on the twelfth and thirteenth days of the first lunar month on Lim Hill where Lim Pagoda is located.

Visitors to the festival can not only visit Lim pagoda to pray for peace and health for their new year but also enjoy charming and beautiful melodies of ‘Quan Ho’ singing, which was inscribed in UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage of humanity list in 2009.

The visitors can experience ‘Quan Ho’ singing in different spaces, including six venues on Lim hill, nine others on boats, or at the own houses of the singers.

Poetry recitals, calligraphy writing, and folk games such as swing, cock fighting, wrestling, and smashing pots while blindfolded, are also being held as part of the festival.

Thai Binh’s Tran Temple Festival kicks off

The Tran Temple Festival, one of the biggest annual spring festivals in Vietnam, opened at the national historical complex of the Tran Kings’ shrines and tombs in Hung Ha district, northern Thai Binh province, on February 20 (the 13th day of the first lunar month)

During the first day of the four-day festival, an incense-offering rite at the Kings’ tombs and a ritual for the opening of the gates of Den Thanh (Thanh Temple), Den Mau (Mother Temple) and the Tran Kings’ shrines took place.

They were followed by a water procession, in which about 1,000 people carried nine ornate palanquins with memorial plaques of the Kings of the Tran Dynasty and members of their royal families.

On the opening night, an hour-long performance titled “Sang mai mot vuong trieu” (A Dynasty Shines Forever) recreated milestone events during the Tran Dynasty (1225-1440) to pay tribute to the dynasty’s dedication to the country.

A series of folk games will also be organised during the festival, including a rice-cooking challenge, clay firecrackers, chung (sticky rice) cake making and tug of war.

The Tran Temple Festival was recognised as part of the national intangible heritage in 2014. The historical complex of the Tran Kings’ shrines and tombs received special national relic status last year.

The Tran Dynasty repelled the Yuan-Mongols on three occasions, making it the most brilliant reign in Vietnamese history.

Thai Binh is considered the birthplace of the Tran Kings, while Nam Dinh was their first residential area. A spring festival is also held at the Tran temple complex in the neighbouring province of Nam Dinh during the first lunar month every year.

On the same day, Hung Ha district became the first district of Thai Binh to receive a certificate recognising it a new-style rural district.

Festival opens to honour Tan Vien Son Thanh

Traditional rituals, folk games as well as other cultural exchanges attracted crowds of locals and visitors at the Tan Vien Son Thanh (Tan Vien Mountain Saint) festival which opened in Quang Minh commune, Ba Vi district, Hanoi on February 21.

The annual festival is held to commemorate Tan Vien Son Thanh- one of the four immortals in traditional Vietnamese mythology.

Ba Vi district is home to a number of relic sites worshipping Tan Vien Son Thanh, including three temples of Thuong, Trung and Ha- the sacred destinations that attract tens of thousands of tourists every year.

On the same day, the district also launched tourism season 2016.

Together with various historical cultural relic sites and special festivals, Ba Vi is home to gorgeous landscapes and popular tourist attractions such as Ao Vua, Khoang Xanh-Suoi Tien, Thien Son-Suoi Nga, Ba Vi National Park, among others. With such advantages, the district has built a line-up of tourism sites and diversified products to lure more holiday makers.

In addition to eco-tourism, spiritual tourism, community-based tourism and resort tourism, agricultural tourism and MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) tourism are also of the district’s strength.

The district’s authorities plan to enhance historic relic site preservation, upgrade tourism products while mobilising resources to develop infrastructure, aiming to turn tourism into a key economic sector.

Ba Vi district is striving to welcome 2.6 million tourists and rake in 250 billion VND (11.2 million USD) from tourism revenue in 2016.

Ba Den Mountain welcomes 1 millionth visitor

The Ba Den (Black Lady) Mountain tourism complex in southern Tay Ninh province welcomed this year’s 1 millionth visitor on February 20.

The lucky tourist, 31-year-old Do The Quyet from central Binh Phuoc province, and the 999,998th and 999,999th visitors, along with those in their groups, were presented with flowers, lucky money and free cable car ride tickets from the Tay Ninh Tourism and Trade Joint Stock Company.

According to Duong Van Phong, Director of the provincial Culture, Sports and Tourism, nearly 900,000 holiday makers have visited the site since the beginning of the 2016 Mountain Ba Spring Festival, which opened at the Ba Den Mountain Historical and Cultural Relic Site on February 11 (the fourth day of the Lunar New Year).

Over 100,000 tourists flocked to the event on the opening day.

It is expected that about 1.5 million festival-goers will visit the destination during the one-month-long festival.

Ba Den is the highest mountain in Vietnam’s southeast region at 886 metres above sea level.

The site, with an abundant spectrum of pagodas and caves, is considered one of the most famous spiritual lands in the southern region, worshipping Linh Son Thanh Mau (Linh Son Holy Mother).

Thirty years of Magic Age shows

More than 1,000 children and their parents visited the Tuoi Ngoc (Magic Age) Children's Stage in HCM City during Tet to enjoy a series of plays, circus and puppet shows, which are part of the theatre's special programme to celebrate its 30th birthday.

Behind the stage, Meritorious Artist Le Cuong, one of the theatre's founders, worked hard to make magic in the music-filled theatre, and had the audience, particularly children, enthralled.

He has written and directed more than 150 plays and performances, mostly aimed at children aged five to 12.

He has also offered training for children, which often led to professional careers in the theatre.

His students include Ly Hai, Quoc Hung va Phuong Thanh, who brighten the stage and work for leading theatres and studios.

"I have a deep passion for drama. Unlike my colleagues, I love working with children, who have enhanced my dramatic talent on stage," said Cuong, who faced challenges opening the Tuoi Ngoc theatre in early 1986.

"In the 1980s we didn't have any idea about opening a theatre that serves children only. We were pioneers who made new waves in both art and business," he recalled.

The Tuoi Ngoc quickly became a favourite entertainment place for local children and teenagers. It now offers four shows in different genres of theatre per month, attracting hundreds of audience member aged three to 15.

Its young actors have often travelled to remote districts to offer free performances for local children.

Cuong said he wanted to inject life into the shows by adding attractive elements.

"A stage of performance for children is a channel for dreams. A director should be the person who builds his own house," he said.

"I create shows built on both Eastern and Western styles. My audiences see many magical things when they enter the theatre to enjoy themselves," he added.

Creating a colourful and lively stage for children comes naturally to Cuong, a man who has many childlike ways and never grows tired.

His plays such as Vuong Mien (The Crown), Cai Non (The Hat) and Thang Quy Nho (A Little Demon) include both education and entertainment, leaving a strong impression on audiences.

He and his staff have worked on circus and puppet shows based on the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Princess and the Pea and The Fisherman and a Mermaid.

"I am like a child myself, and I know what children want to see on stage," Cuong said.

"I enjoy creating a world where our children's dreams could become a reality where animals, princesses, princes and enchantresses spring out from the storybooks and jump right off the papers to appear before their faces," he said.

Training is another feather in his hat.

"I decided to work in training because I wanted to give young talents a hand to help them develop. They are the future of our theatre," he said.

His theatre has worked with cultural houses and centres for children in rural districts to offer free training for young talents.

The Tuoi Ngoc Children Stage's new shows are on stage every weekend night at 7 Tran Cao Van Street, District 1. Tickets are available at the box office.

Hoi An farm festival tomorrow

The city of Hoi An will host a festival to honour maize – a farm produce grown in Cam Nam Commune – for the third year tomorrow.

This festival in Hoi An city will promote farm produce and craft, along with Tra Que vegetable village and Kim Bong carpentry village.

Pham Kieu, head of the festival organising committee, said the maize festival will offer different cuisine from maize, as well as folk games and a demonstration worshipping the God of agriculture, and an exhibition of maize products.

Tourists can join in cooking with local people during the festival.

The annual festival has become a tourist attraction in Hoi An, as it draws many tourists visiting the ancient town, craft villages and suburban areas. Cam Nam commune farm maize festival will take place along 30ha on the Thu Bon River.

Ha Nam: Tran Thuong Temple named special national relic site

The Tran Thuong Temple in the northern province of Ha Nam received a certificate recognising it as a special national relic site at a ceremony on February 21 attended by Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan.

Located in Nhan Dao commune of Ly Nhan district, the temple holds much historical, cultural and spiritual value.

The temple is dedicated to King Tran Hung Dao (1228-1300), the Supreme Commander of Vietnam during the Tran Dynasty, who repelled three major Mongolian invasions in the 13th century.

On the same day, or the 14th day of the first lunar month, a food-distributing festival was held at the Tran Thuong Temple, which stored food for King Tran Hung Dao’s soldiers during the fight against Mongolian invaders.

During the festival, about 150,000 food parcels that contained corn, soy beans and sticky rice – key staples produced by Ly Nhan residents – were handed out to the pilgrims.

Hai Thuong Lan Ong Festival recognised as national intangible cultural heritage

A ceremony was held in central Ha Tinh province on February 21 to commemorate the 225th death anniversary of the Great Physician Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac and to receive a certificate in recognition of the festival dedicated to the famous physician as a national intangible cultural heritage.

Le Huu Trac (1720-1791) was born in in Yen My district, northern Hung Yen province and spent most of his life in Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province.

One of his great contributions to Vietnamese traditional medicine was the summarisation of the essence of human medicine and Vietnamese traditional medicine into voluminous texts, such as ‘Hai Thuong Y Tong Tam Linh’ (The comprehension of Hai Thuong on medicine), which is considered the encyclopedia of Vietnamese Traditional Medicine with thousands of recipes and hundreds of remedies.

He was also a shining example of medical ethics. Nine articles in his ‘Y Huan Cach Ngon’ (Instructions on medical ethics) have been adopted as the ethical guideline and principles for medicine practice for Vietnamese physicians.

Each year on the first full moon in the first lunar month - the day of his death, locals and medical staff across the country flock to Huong Son for Hai Thuong Lan Ong Festival. The event has become an annual tradition in the spiritual and cultural life of local people in tribute to the enormous contribution by the famous physician to Vietnamese medicine.

To continue preserving and promoting the values of the festival, on October 13, 2015, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided to recognise the festival as a national intangible cultural heritage.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Chairman of Ha Tinh provincial People’s Committee Dang Quoc Khanh urged related authorities along with local Party committee, government and people of Huong Son to promote responsibilities for preserving and promoting the valuable legacy left by the Great Physician Le Huu Trac, as well as the values of the festival and the relic site dedicated to him.