The outdoor bar Saigon Outcast will host Christmas potluck dinner on December 24.

Participants are encouraged to bring their home-cooked food to the dinner and share with others. The dinner is expected to include traditional dishes from Việt Nam and other countries.

Live music will be played during the dinner. The dinner will begin at 6:30pm at 188/1 Nguyễn Văn Hưởng Street in District 2.

Christmas flea market in District 7

The Saigon Flea Market will host a Christmas Flash Sale at Boomerang Bistro Saigon in District 7 on December 24. Photo courtesy of the organiser

Saigon Flea Market will host a Christmas Flash Sale at the Boomerang Bistro Saigon in District 7 on December 24.

There will be 100 stalls, offering decorative objects and ornaments, gifts and souvenirs for Christmas. It will also include unique clothes, home decorations, vintage items, handmade accessories, food, beverages and live music.

The market will open from 11am to 7pm at 107 Tôn Dật Tiên Street in District 7.

Experiment music show to feature Alberto Novello

The fourth showcase of Beyond Sound will feature artist Alberto Novello on December 23.

Novello will be improvising live with his modular synthesiser, triggered by the sounds that he hears around him and will be exploring the acoustic characteristics of the venue.

Alberto Novello (aka JesterN) is a scientist, composer, sound and video artist. His main artistic focus is directed towards the creation of probabilistic multi-media architectures, on the technological limit between instability and error, failure and expression.

His artistic work has been presented at international festivals such as Amsterdam Dance Event, Venice Biennale, Impuls Tanz Vienna, Seoul International Music Festival and New York Computer Music Festival. The performance will take place at Heritage Space, Dolphin Plaza, 28 Trần Bình, Hà Nội.

Russian Centre to organise “Christmas Tree” celebration

The Russian Centre for Science and Culture will host a Christmas celebration on December 26-28.

The programme consists of performances by artists from the Việt Nam Central Circus, dances and songs on the theme of the New Year, as well as contests and games. Santa Claus and Snow White will also be present to meet young guests.

A “Christmas Tree” programme especially for children will take place on December 26. On the following day, an event will be held for Russian language students at language schools in Việt Nam while a similar event for university students will take place on December 28.

The event will take place at 501 Kim Mã Street, Hà Nội. Entrance is free.

Exhibition on Mậu Thân Offensive opens in Cần Thơ

A special showcase about the Mậu Thân Offensive in spring 1968 has opened at Cần Thơ City Museum as part of the city’s cultural activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the event.

The exhibition, 50 Năm-Nhớ Mãi Mùa Xuân 1968 (50 Years-Spring 1968 Forever), features more than 250 photos, objects and documentaries related to the Vietnamese people and soldiers, and historic events during the offensive. 

Its opening ceremony on Tuesday attracted hundreds of local authorities and visitors, including students from colleges and universities. The exhibition runs through April 15.

Vietnam international fashion fair to open in Hanoi

The Vietnam International Fashion Fair 2017 (VIFF 2017) is scheduled to take place in Hanoi on December 22-26.

The event, co-organised by the Vietnam Exhibition and Fair Centre JSC (VEFAC) and Vietnam Textile and Garment Group, will host more than 200 booths covering an area of over 4,000 square metres.

Nearly 150 leading businesses in textile sector nationwide are expected to participate in the event, along with firms in other sectors including leather and footwear, cosmetics and beauty services.

Vietnam’s major fashion brands will launch new products at the event as well as a series of the year’s largest promotion and discount programmes.

Exhibition highlights colourful life of ethnic minority groups

More than 60 art works featuring the culture and life of ethnic minority groups in the northern province of Thai Nguyen are being displayed at an exhibition which opened in the locality on December 19.

The exhibits include many photos which have been selected for national, regional and international shows, including “Tre em vung cao” (Mountainous children), “Chi Em” (Sisters), and “Nang cao nguyen” (Plateau sunlight).

The exhibition also reflects the province’s achievements in economy, science and technology, social welfare, security and defence.

According to Ma Truong Nguyen, Chairman of the provincial association of ethnic minority literature and art, the exhibition is organised to mark the 88th founding day of the Communist Party of Vietnam (February 3), welcome the year 2018 and honour creativeness of local artists.

The event will run to December 25.

Winners of Vietnam-Laos friendship contest announced

A ceremony was held in Hanoi on December 20 to award the winners of a contest on the history of the Vietnam-Laos special relationship.

The contest was one of activities to celebrate the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year of 2017 and the 55th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations and 40 years of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Cooperation and Amity.

From its launch from April 18, 2017, the contest’s online version drew 307,000 competitors. Meanwhile, the writing part attracted nearly 3 million entries as of September.

Competitors of the contest varied in age from students to 90-year-old revolutionaries.

The organization board selected over 2,000 outstanding pieces of writing for the final round.

Many entries told the memories of former Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts in Laos during their stay in the neighbouring country, or memories of a Lao friend during the war.

At the ceremony, the organization board announced winners of 23 collective awards, and 32 for individuals. At the same time, 28 first, 28 second and 28 third prizes were also presented for the online contest.

Northern Ninh Binh province won the first team prize, while Pham Thi Hong Duyen, a teacher of Nguyen Du secondary school in Hanoi’s Soc Son district received first prize for individual category.

Cham sculpture catalogue launched in Da Nang

A catalogue comprising new photographs of the world’s leading collection of Cham sculpture was launched in central Da Nang city on December 21.

The catalogue, titled “Vibrancy in Stone – Masterpieces of the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture”, comes as the result of a cooperation project between the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) under the University of London and the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture.

It also gathers the most recent reports of Vietnamese and international scholars in the field of history, archaeology and art history.

The Cham culture thrived in magnificent temples, sculpture, dance and music along the central and southern coast of Vietnam from the 5th to the 15th century.

The project, which started in 2015, intends to publish a new catalogue to mark the 100th anniversary of the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture, said the museum’s Director Vo Van Thang. 

He noted that the museum has recently been expanded and refurbished after a century.

More Christmas greetings sent to Catholics

Deputy Director of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation Nguyen Lam extended Christmas and New Year greetings to Catholic dignitaries and followers in the northern provinces of Ninh Binh and Nam Dinh on December 21.

Visiting Ninh Binh’s Phat Diem diocese and Nam Dinh’s Bui Chu diocese, Lam affirmed that the Catholic community has contributed remarkably to the country’s socio-economic achievements, especially to the building of new-style rural areas and poverty reduction.

He affirmed that the Party and State have consistently respected and ensured the right to religion and belief freedom of all people and satisfied the legitimate needs of religious organisations and followers.

On the same day, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan also visited the Thanh Hoa diocese ahead of the upcoming Christmas holidays.

Media centre opened to serve Da Lat Flowers Festival

A media centre was inaugurated on December 21 at No.1 Le Dai Hanh Street in Da Lat city of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong to provide information and venue for reporters during the 7th Da Lat Flowers Festival starting this weekend.

The centre, located in downtown Da Lat where the festival will take place, is able to provide reporters with high-speed Internet access and computers. It will be open through December 27.

To date, over 300 reporters and editors from press agencies and television stations across the country have registered to cover the upcoming festival, according to the province’s Department of Information and Communications.

In addition, the toll station at Lien Khuong – Prenn Pass highway will offer free pass from December 22-28 to better serve visitors to the festival.

The 7th Da Lat Flower Festival, themed “Flowers of Da Lat – Miracle from the Good Earth”, will be held in Da Lat city from December 23-27.

This year’s event will continue promoting the branding of flowers and tourism in Da Lat and introducing traditional tea and silk products of the province.

The festival will feature a fashion week of silk and “ao dai” (traditional Vietnamese dress) and folk performances by artists from the Republic of Korea.

A series of workshops will be held within the framework of the festival to promote investment in Lam Dong, discuss Da Lat’s development planning and develop local tea and silk products.

Winners of environmental photo contest announced

The winners of the environment-themed photo contest launched by the General Department of Environment and Việt Nam Association of Photographic Artists were announced on December 19.

The first prize winner went to the photo Tea Farm by Nguyễn Thanh Hải in the central province of Hà Tĩnh and the second prize winners are Laboratory by Nguyễn Văn Mười from the northern province of Phú Thọ and Red-Shanked Douc Langur by Nguyễn Phan Vinh from the central city of Đà Nẵng. 

The contest, open from May to October, themed Khát Vọng Của Thiên Nhiên (Aspiration of Nature), attracted more than 2,600 entries and 19 won prizes.

“The contest aims to strengthen the creativity of the community and reflect the current state of environmental protection work throughout the country through the photographs,” said deputy head of the general department of environment Hoàng Văn Thức.

“The participants helped to give a new perspective on Việt Nam’s environment. This will serve as valuable material for the environment sector’s communication work,” he added.

Phạm Tiến Dũng, editor-in-chief of Việt Nam Photography Magazine, a judge of the contest, said: “The winners are all lively and artful with profound messages about environmental protection, helping to raise awareness about this issue.”

Nguyễn Văn Mười, a second prize winner with his work Laboratory said: “This is a meaningful platform for the photographers. Each photographer must travel to many places to have good shots. It is also a good chance for them to raise the awareness of themselves and the community about environmental protection.”

Nguyễn Phan Vinh, second prize winner with his work featuring the red-shanked douc langur, said he had to travel to Sơn Trà Peninsula, where this species lives, every day to catch the right picture.

VNS/VNA