Exploring Mekong Delta culture at village

A part of the floating market will be set up at the village for October’s programme themed Mekong Delta at the Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism. — Photo mykhanh.com

Various cultural activities about the Mekong Delta will take place throughout October at the Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in the western outskirts of Hà Nội.

The programme, titled Beloved Western Region, will entertain visitors from October 6. On the grass field in front of the Khmer pagoda, popular images of the Mekong Delta region will be set up with bamboo bridges and boats of flowers and fruits. A theatre showing various folk performances will be set up, where artists will perform southern amateur music, folk dances and pop songs praising the beauty of the region.

Tourists will be able to experience festive spaces like the Sen Dolta Festival of the Khmer ethnic group from Sóc Trăng Province on October 13-14; the New Crop Festival of the Xơ Đăng group from Kon Tum Province on October 21; and the Palau Sah Praying for Rain ceremony of the Chăm group in Ninh Thuận on October 28.

The organisers will exhibit a photo collection on the Mekong Delta, advertise local tourism products by distributing leaflets, paintings, posters, magazines and CDs.

Plenty of Mekong Delta delicacies will be available at the site like fish hotpot, cakes like bánh khọt, bánh xèo, bánh pía, and pork sausage.

The village will also host art shows featuring the cultures of other ethnic groups.

The village is located in Đồng Mô, Sơn Tây District, some 45km to the west of central Hà Nội.

Exhibition on Vietnam’s Hoang Sa, Truong Sa held in Quang Tri

Visitors to the exhibition on Vietnam's Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos in Quang Tri province 

An exhibition of historical and legal evidence proving Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos in the East Sea opened in the central province of Quang Tri on October 2.

The event, held in Ai Tu of Trieu Phong district, has on display around 120 photos, documents, and maps collected from Vietnam and other countries.

Many of the exhibits were written in Chinese and Nom (Vietnamese script based on Chinese characters) scripts, some dating as far back as the 16th century.

Among them, “Dai Viet su ky tuc bien” (Supplementary Edition of the Annals of the Great Viet), compiled under the direction of Lord Trinh Sam in 1775, records the Lord’s account of sending a small fleet to Hoang Sa archipelago to fish and collect abandoned assets to bring back to the southern region.

“Dai Nam thuc luc tien bien” (The First Chapter of the Chronicles of Dai Nam), “Dai Nam thuc luc chinh bien” (The Main Chapter of the Chronicles of Dai Nam), and other documents created under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 - 1945) state that the Nguyen kings deployed forces to Hoang Sa to measure and count the islands, draw maps of them, and plant sovereignty markers, build temples, and plant trees there to help boats avoid being stranded when travelling through the area.

The displayed documents also recorded that the naval force and the Hoang Sa fleet of the Nguyen Dynasty rescued British and French ships stranded in Hoang Sa archipelago.

Some documents written in Cham ethnic script also said the Nguyen Dynasty mobilised residents to establish and exercise Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.

The exhibition also showcases maps drawn by Vietnamese people between the 17th and 20th centuries, as well as Chinese maps of their own territories from the 16th to the 20th century – all of which depict Hainan Island as the southernmost point of Chinese territory.

Meanwhile, maps of Vietnam published by western countries from the 16th to the 20th centuries also confirm that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa belong to Vietnam.

The exhibition in Quang Tri will last until October 5. 

A representative from the National Archives Department presents a carved wooden panel on the career of King Lê Thái Tổ to a representative of Thanh Hóa. 

Visitors from across the country flocked to the 2018 Lam Kinh Festival at the Lam Kinh Historic Site Complex in Thanh Hóa Province over the weekend.

This year’s festival commemorated the 600th anniversary of the Lam Sơn Uprising, the 590th anniversary of King Lê Thái Tổ’s coronation and the 585th anniversary of national hero Lê Lợi’s death.

During the festival, the city hosted various cultural, sporting and tourism activities.

Lam Kinh is known in historical documents as a land associated with the career of national hero Lê Lợi, the leader of the Lam Sơn Uprising against northern invaders (1418-1428). 

Sóc Trăng’s female artist wins HCM City TV cải lương contest

Actress Lâm Thị Kim Cương (left) of Sóc Trăng Province, winner of the 2018 Chuông Vàng (Golden Bell) Award, performed yesterday in the annual cải lương (reformed opera) contest organised by HCM City Television. — Photo courtesy of the producer)

A 20-year-old woman from Sóc Trăng Province won the 2018 Chuông Vàng (Golden Bell) Award on Sunday in the annual cải lương (reformed opera) contest organised by HCM City Television.  

Lâm Thị Kim Cương captured the hearts of the judges and audiences by singing excerpts from Chuyện Tấm Cám (The Tale of Tấm and Cám), a traditional play based on a popular Vietnamese fairy tale, in the final round at the HCM City Television Theatre.

She also performed Tiếng Nguyệt Cầm (Voice of Moon-Shaped Guitar), a famous vọng cổ (nostalgic tunes) song, a genre of southern traditional music written by veteran composer Huỳnh Thanh Tuấn.

She competed with eight other singers to bring home the Golden Prize, garnering 98.4 points by the jury and 52 per cent of the audience vote. 

She received VNĐ100 million (US$4,300) in cash. 

“Cương offered something new in her role in the two performances which have catapulted many artists to fame. She combined traditional and modern styles," said Meritorious Artist Minh Vương, a member of the jury.  

The contest’s final round was broadcast live on HTV9 and attracted more than 70,000 viewers in the city and southern provinces.  

Twenty-eight-year-old Võ Thị Ngọc Quyền of HCM City was the runner-up, while her closest competitor, 30-year-old Phạm Văn Nguyên of Đồng Tháp Province, finished third.

“I learned many lessons in singing and performance skills from my teacher, Meritorious Artist Phượng Loan, who trained me during the contest and performed with me in Chuyện Tấm Cám,” the 20-year-old Cương said.   

Cương began learning singing when she was a child and performed in cải lương clubs in Sóc Trăng while at school.

She has worked with veteran artists such as Meritorious Artist Quế Trân and Hữu Quốc to improve her voice and dance skills.

“After winning the Chuông Vàng prize, I will have opportunities to develop my career professionally. I also better understand why it is important for young artists to preserve and develop cải lương,” said Cương. 

The Chuông Vàng contest, organised by HCM City Television, seeks to bring together new talents and fans of cải lương. The event began in 2006 and has attracted millions of attendees from around the country.

The participants perform vọng cổ and cải lương, two of the region’s most popular forms of traditional music.

This year, the contest was held over a three-month period in HCM City, with 330 participants aged 16 to 35 from amateur and professional troupes around the country.

Joint exhibition to welcome autumn

A lacquer by Trịnh Vũ Hiếu.— Photo courtesy of the artist

The exhibition End of the Road, featuring lacquer, oil on canvas and pottery by young artists Trịnh Vũ Hiếu, Chu Việt Cường and Lê Văn Hoàn opened on Monday in Hà Nội.

Their artworks focus on nature and landscape of mountainous villages and contain slice-of-life anecdotes. They decided to hold the exhibition to welcome autumn as they all love autumn and use autumnal colours like yellow and red.

Although the artists pursue two different forms of fine art (painting and pottery), their artworks have things in common in terms of content and expression. They use traditional art to depict contemporary life.

The exhibition will run until October 8 at the Exhibition House, 29 Hàng Bài Street, Hoàn Kiếm District, Hà Nội. Entrance is free.

Programme featuring culture of southwest region held in Hanoi

Cai Rang floating market - a tourist attraction in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho 

A programme introducing the traditional culture, customs and specialties of ethnic groups in the southwest region is taking place in the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism.

The programme is being held throughout October at the site in Dong Mo, Son Tay town, 40km from downtown, Hanoi by the village’s management board in coordination with the departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Soc Trang, Ninh Thuan and Kon Tum provinces.

Visitors to the event have an opportunity to explore unique festivals observed by local ethnic groups, including Sene Dolta festival of Khmer people in Soc Trang province, new-crop ritual of Xo Dang people in Kon Tum, and the praying for rain ceremony of Cham people in Ninh Thuan province.

Cultural exchange activities and praying for peace ceremonies will also be staged at Khmer pagodas and Cham towers in the village during weekends of this month.

Exhibition honours General Vo Nguyen Giap

Items belonging to late General Vo Nguyen Giap that are related to the establishment of the Vietnamese People’s Army. (Photos courtesy of Vietnam Military History Museum)

Over 200 images and objects related to the national hero late General Vo Nguyen Giap will be featured at an exhibition hosted by the Vietnam Military History Museum on October 3.

The "Dai Tuong Vo Nguyen Giap voi Chien Khu Viet Bac" (General Vo Nguyen Giap and Northernmost Vietnam Base) exhibition aims to honour the significant contribution of the General in the national liberation, construction and protection, particularly during the period when the General was living and working in the Northernmost Vietnam Base. This was when he took crucial decisions that contributed to the national victory in the resistance war against the French.

It is also considered a tribute to the national hero of the Vietnamese People’s Army, commemorating his 5th death anniversary, which falls on October 4.

The images and objects are displayed in three main categories: Northernmost Vietnam Base – The Cradle of Vietnam’s Revolution; General Vo Nguyen Giap From Northernmost Vietnam Base till the Day of Complete Victory; and People’s General.

The exhibition is jointly organised by the Vietnam Military History Museum and the Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the three northern provinces of Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang and Lang Son.

The Vietnam Military History Museum is located at No 28A Dien Bien Phu Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.

General Vo Nguyen Giap (1911-2013) was a Vietnamese general and politician who is considered one of the greatest military strategists of the 20th century. He first gained prominence as the military leader of the Viet Minh resistance against the Japanese occupation of Vietnam and was a crucial military commander in two wars: the French Resistance War (1946-1954) and the American War (1955-1975).

He made great contributions in a number of historically significant battles: Lang Son (1950), Hoa Binh (1951–1952), Dien Bien Phu (1954), the Tet Offensive in Hue (1968), the Easter Offensive in Hanoi (1972) and the final Ho Chi Minh Campaign to liberate Sai Gon (1975).

Southern Khmer folk singing festival opens in Soc Trang

A performance at the festival 

The first Khmer folk singing festival of the Mekong Delta region opened in Soc Trang province on October 1, drawing more than 300 contestants, mostly students, amateur artists and artisans from regional localities.

The 96 performances at the festival were themed around the Party, President Ho Chi Minh, as well as positive changes in several localities, the love for homeland, traditional festivals, and family sentiments.

Following the opening ceremony, audiences were able to enjoy nine folk performances.

Soc Trang is home to a large society of Khmer people. According to Nguyen Van Bon, Director of the provincial radio and TV station and head of the organising board, the event is a chance for amateur singers to share and exchange experience to promote the traditional culture of Khmer people through folk songs and musical instruments.

The festival is also an opportunity to honour, preserve, and develop the unique art of the Khmer people, contributing to developing the cultural identities of the group, while meeting the demand for folk art from locals and audiences from other localities, he said.

The festival will run until October 5 in Studio 3 of the Soc Trang radio-TV station. The opening and closing ceremonies are broadcast live on channels STV1 and STV2 of Soc Trang TV, as well as channel 5 of the Vietnam Television. 

Cultural, art activities celebrate Hanoi’s Liberation Day

A string of cultural and art activities will take place in October in Hanoi to mark the 64th anniversary of capital city’s Liberation Day. (Photo:vietnamembassy.org)

A string of cultural and art activities will take place in October in Hanoi to mark the 64th anniversary of capital city’s Liberation Day (October 10).

The highlights are a Hanoi cuisine festival, a singing contest and a theatre festival, according to the Hanoi municipal Department of Culture and Sports.

The 2018 Hanoi Cuisine Culture Festival will take place from October 5 to 7 at the Thong Nhat park, honouring and promoting typical food of Hanoi to domestic and foreign visitors.

Pham Thi Lan Anh, head of the Heritage Management Division under the municipal Department of Culture and Sports, said the event will introduce the history of traditional trades relating to cuisine and the cuisine performance process as well as cooking utensils and materials, and famous cooks’ know-how in creating special cuisine.

Many kinds of traditional and typical food of Hanoi will be introduced at the event, including pho, vermicelli, com (green sticky rice), xoi (steamed sticky rice), and gio cha (steamed ground meat).

During the festival, there will be an exhibition area that features the elegant style of the Hanoians in enjoying the cuisine. In addition, visitors will be able to exchange ideas and taste Hanoi cuisine with artisans, researchers in Hanoi, as well as join a number of traditional arts and games.

Besides, the final round of the 2018 Hanoi Singing Contest will take place on October 10 with the competition of 10 outstanding contestants.

Launched in July, the contest drew 400 contestants.

The contestants showed their talent in three main genres – chamber, folk and light music.

As part of activities to mark the 64th anniversary of Hanoi’s Liberation Day, the Hanoi stage festival 2018 will take place from October 4-9 with the participation of 10 art units. 

The artists will provide the audience with 10 classical opera, cai luong (reform) and drama performances.

VN top 3 for adventure

A boat tour in the Mekong Delta. 

Readers of global travel website TripAdvisor have ranked Việt Nam third in their top 10 global adventure destinations.

Reporting this, the UK’s Daily Star listed three of the most popular activities for visitors in this country: a half-day Hà Nội food tour; a full-day Mekong Delta bike tour from HCM City and an evening Hội An food tour by bike.

Costa Rica topped the TripAdvisor list and was followed by New Zealand. Việt Nam is the only Asian country to make it to the list, which also includes Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Portugal, Mexico, the US, and Iceland. 

US News earlier this month named Việt Nam as one of 30 best solo travel destinations alongside neighbours Singapore and Thailand.

Earlier this year TripAdvisor readers ranked Việt Nam as one of the 10 best places to go in the world.