The Danang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF) 2018 will be held in the central coastal city of Danang from April 29 to June 30 next year and is meant as an international tourism and culture event in celebration of Vietnam’s Reunification Day (April 30).

In a statement released on the website www.diff.vn, the organizing committee says the forthcoming firework festival themed “The legend of bridges” will feature performances by seven international teams from Poland, France, the U.S., Italy, Hong Kong, Sweden, Portugal and the host country of Vietnam on the iconic Han River in the central city. These competitors have bagged many awards at other international fireworks competitions.

Scores of activities are expected to take place on the sidelines of the firework competition, including a food festival, a flash mob dance performance for students, and a street carnival show.

Held for the first time in 2008, the Danang International Fireworks Competition (DIFC) has emerged as an annual important cultural and tourism event, contributing to boost cultural exchanges and woo many foreign tourists to Danang City and Vietnam as well. This year marked an important milestone of the international-level competition as DIFC was renamed as DIFF with eight international teams attending.

In this year’s firework festival which wrapped up on June 30 in Danang City, the Italian team Martarello SRL took the first prize, while second and third prize winners went to the Australia and UK teams respectively.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the number of tourist arrivals in Danang City this year is forecast to reach 6.6 million, surging 19% against a year earlier. The city is expected to obtain total tourism revenue of VND19.4 trillion, a 20.6% year-on-year rise.

Meanwhile, international tourist arrivals to Vietnam in the first 11 months of this year amounted to 11.6 million, a pickup of 27.8% from the year-ago period.

SGT