Both teams wowed spectators with two dazzling displays that created an incredible tapestry of color and light across the sky over the Han Rriver in downtown Da Nang.

A total of eight teams from Vietnam, Russia, Brazil, Belgium, Finland, Italy, UK, China competed during the festival, which ran from June 1st to July 6th, 2019 with five competition nights, all under the theme Stories By The Rivers.

Before the pyrotechnics began, hundreds of artists from Trung Vuong Theater, top singers and art troupes from throughout the country opened the show by singing iconic Da Nang songs on the DIFF 2019 stage, which created a wonderful, warm and welcoming atmosphere.

At the opening ceremony, leaders of the city, distinguished guests and thousands of visitors were also treated to a retrospective of the 10 fireworks festivals, which have been held in Da Nang since 2008 and a special video report on DIFF 2019.

First launched with the aim of creating a truly world class event in the coastal city, the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival has grown in popularity over the years and is now one of the major cultural highlights of the summer calendar in Vietnam.

The two teams competing — Team Da Nang - Vietnam and Team Fireworks Centre Khan from Russia — were honored to be performing on the opening night under the sub-theme “Origins”.

The team from Vietnam named their display "Legend of the Two River Banks”, which was inspired by the rise of a young Da Nang city and its journey toward integration. The team chose beautifully evocative background music for the performance with many sweet melodies and songs that left many Vietnamese spectators swelling with pride and full of emotion. International spectators were greatly impressed, too.

Meanwhile, Team Fireworks Center Khan from Russia thrilled spectators with their impressive show entitled “Dance of Fire and Water” for which they created a kaleidoscope of color by using multiple kinds of fireworks including sparklers, air bombs, and special aquatic fireworks.

Along with the spectacular fireworks displays, performing artists on the night also paid tribute to rivers with beautiful songs such as “Return to the childhood river”, “My beloved Han River”, “The Beautiful Volga River” and many more. The crowd was thrilled to hear the songs performed by famous divas and crooners such as My Tam, Thai Binh, and Trong Tan.

For the opening ceremony, on the main stage of DIFF 2019, international dancers and artists performed a special excerpt from the new show “Sunshine Carnival”, which made its debut at Sun World Ba Na Hills on May 31, 2019.

This year, the stage for DIFF 2019 came replete with a host of new technologies and modern visual effects to create an even more dynamic and dazzling show.

According to the Organizing Committee of DIFF 2019, nearly VND30 billion was invested to build this year’s stage which required the efforts of more than 200 people working at full capacity to set the stage up within 50 days.

PV