Hanoi to host Vietnam’s largest Christmas festival

Organizers of this year’s Christmas Festival, set for December 23-24 at the Westlake Water Park in Hanoi, are boasting it will be the largest in Vietnam.

They say it will attract more than 40,000 people and feature a snow road, street festival and gift world.

The organizing board has also launched a photograph competition to coincide with the event and 30 awards for best image in a number of categories will be presented during the event.

The festival is being organized by HeartLink Joint Stock Company in co-ordination with Westlake Water Park.

National TV festival takes place in Hue next week

The 34th National Television Festival will take place in the imperial city of Hue in central Thua Thien-Hue province from December 17 to 20.

Vietnam National Television’s Deputy General Director Pham Viet Tien said on December 12 that the annual festival is to review operations of the television industry throughout the year, and honour outstanding works in the field.

Some 500 works from 100 organisations nationwide will compete in nine categories including children’s programme, documentary, reportage, science and education, talk shows, dialogue, programmes in ethnic minority languages, music, and TV serial.

As part of the event, there will be three seminars on the production of agriculture and rural development programmes, the power of breaking news, and new media - opportunities and challenges for television stations.

In addition, there will be photo exhibitions, nominated work screenings as well as talks between television makers and local audiences.

Celebrated artist to exhibit in Ha Noi

An exhibition celebrating 20 years of work and the life of Vietnamese-French artist Nguyen Cam and Art Vietnam Gallerist Suzanne Lecht will open in Ha Noi today.

The works of Cam that are being exhibited are mixed media on canvas created by using dark and vibrant colours.

Calligraphic musings and bits of jute, votive papers, ginkgo leaves, tea bags and other distinctly Vietnamese elements are scattered over fractured landscapes to give the impression of a visual diary.

Born in Hai Phong in 1944, Cam left Viet Nam in 1954 and lived for several years in Laos and France where he gained fame as an artist.

In 1994, the Vietnamese government invited him to exhibit his works in Viet Nam and teach in the national fine arts universities.

For the last 20 years, Cam has been coming to Viet Nam to paint, exhibit and visit friends and family, restoring his ties with his homeland and memories. His current works show him to be a man at peace with the world and with a renewed energy to express the majesty of life with all its joys and sorrows.

Cam is a close friend of Suzanne Lecht, an American who came to Viet Nam in 1994. She has organised several solo exhibitions of Cam in Viet Nam and abroad.

They have forged a deep friendship over the years, bound by the appreciation of the beauty and power of art to transform and reconcile with history.

The exhibition, which is expected to celebrate life, beauty, art and lives well lived, will run till January 13, 2015, at the Art Vietnam Gallery located at 24 Ly Quoc Su Street.

TV series to showcase culture on Viet Nam's seas and islands

The Binh Duong Province's Radio and Television Station (BTV) will broadcast a documentary TV series featuring the seas and islands of Viet Nam on Monday.

The 100-part film, Ky Su Bien Dao (The Sea and Island Chronicle), focuses on local fishermen and their culture and lifestyle.

It features the topics of history and culture, economy and tourism.

The film also portrays the daily life of Vietnamese soldiers and people stationed in the Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands.

The BTV's film staff spent a year working with local people to discover seas and islands in 28 cities and provinces.

They worked at many famous destinations in Quang Ninh, Kien Giang, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc and Con Dao islands.

"We began filming in Quang Ninh and closed our production with beautiful scenes in Kien Giang. We reported on the daily life of local people, trying to make their culture of hundreds years come alive through our film," said Dang Ngoc Quy, a member of the film group.

What makes this film special, Quy said, is the blending of scenes featuring the natural environment with daily life, which include remote villages and locals' activities and fishing industries.

Filmmakers tried to focus on the soldiers' lives and work, giving audience a closer view of their silent contributions to the country.

The film's 15-minute parts will be broadcast on BTV2 and BTV1 channels every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 9.30pm.

Veteran singer performS in HCMC

Vietnamese-French singer Bach Yen staged a solo performance in HCM City last night at a special show for fans celebrating her 58-year career.

Yen performed with her colleagues, jazz singer Tuyet Loan and pianist Nguyen Anh 9, before 2,300 people at the Hoa Binh Theatre.

"I always respect my audience and want to provide them with the best style in voice and performance," said Yen, in her interview with local media before her show.

Her live show was televised on Viet Nam Television's VTV9 and on channels in stations in Binh Phuoc, Da Nang, Thua Thien-Hue and Lam Dong.

Highlights included songs written by popular musicians Nguyen Van Thuong and Lam Phuong, such as Dem Dong (Winter Night) and Cho Em Quen Tuoi Ngoc (C'est Toi).

Yen also performed Vietnamese lullabies, which made her famous worldwide.

Born in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta River province of Soc Trang, Yen began her singing career in 1956. She performed songs not only in Vietnamese, but in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Hebrew.

In 1961, she decided to head for Paris with a dream of becoming an international pop star in the Edith Piaf style.

She signed a contract with Polydo Studio to tour in Europe and released several albums and videos.

In 1965, New York-based reporter and columnist Ed Sullivan invited Yen to perform for two weeks on The Ed Sullivan Show, one of the US's most popular TV shows at the time.

Her contract expanded to nearly 12 years, making her a familiar face on TV and on the variety shows of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Joey Bishop, Mike Douglas and Pat Boone.

She performed with singer and actor Jimmy Durante, Carlos Almaran, and singer Frankie Avalon.

In 1978, she returned to Paris where she married Vietnamese multi-instrumentalist and ethnomusicologist Tran Quang Hai who influenced her to perform traditional Vietnamese music.

Together they have performed thousands of recitals featuring Vietnamese music in 70 countries.

One of their seven albums on Vietnamese folk songs received the Grand Prix du Disque de l'Academie Charles Cros.

Yen's first show in Viet Nam after years of living away from her native land will take place tonight in Hoa Binh Theatre, 240 Ba Thang Hai Street, District 1.

Contemporary VN artist celebrated at awards ceremony

Artist and curator Tran Luong was honoured at The Holland Prince Claus Awards ceremony on Wednesday for his innovative work.

Luong, 54, was one of the first local artists to experiment with performance and video art. He is also an independent curator and played a major role in shaping the Vietnamese contemporary art scene.

According to the jury, Luong received the award for creating moving works that criticise repression, emphasise human resilience and empower the individual through personal action and self-reflection.

On Thursday, Luong made a presentation about his contribution to arts development in Viet Nam.

The Principal Prince Claus Award this year was granted to Colombian artist Abel Rodriguez. The other award winners hail from India, Peru, Turkey, Guatemala, Chile, Brazil, the Philippines, Indonesia and Nigeria.

Live TV programme honours soldiers on 70th anniversary of People's Army

A special live TV programme taking place simultaneously at five historical sites across the country was held on the night of December 12 to honour soldiers and military officers on the occasion of the 79th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22, 1944-2014).

Entitled 'Glorious Uncle Ho's Soldiers', the programme connected five historical sites:Tran Hung Dao Wood in northern Cao Bang province, Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi, Bao Ninh Sea Square in Quang Ninh province, War Zone D Relic in Dong Nai southern province and Thang Nhat Hall in Ho Chi Minh City.

The 150-minute programme featured the stages of development and maturity of the People's Army of Vietnam through three chapters: 'The army sourced from the people', 'The army fight for the people' and 'The army of peace'.

The event gathered together more than 400 artists and history witnesses who put on artistic performances praising the country and people and recalled touching stories about soldiers during the two resistance wars in the past.

During the programme, 12 video clips were screened which recorded images of history witnesses, leaders of the Party and State, senior military officers and generals as well as valuable domestic and foreign images and documents shown for the first time.

The event was a special political event to recall the glorious history and feats of the People's Army over the past 70 years and to boost the national pride and patriotism of the Vietnamese people.

Thousands join tourism contest

A writing contest themed Tan huong ban sac Viet (Savour Vietnam) which is organized by Saigontourist in collaboration with Tuoi Tre Newspaper is taking place with the total prize value of VND300 million.

Nearly 3,000 pictures and 545 essays about tourism and beautiful landscapes have been sent to the organizers between July and October. Candidates can continue submitting their entries until February 28 next year.

Tran Hung Viet, general director of Saigontourist, said the organizers will single out the outstanding essays and photos and compile them into a book entitled Tan huong ban sac Viet (Savour Vietnam) for sale at home and abroad.

As many as 100 best pictures were showcased in the Rex Hotel yesterday. They will be on display in the Majestic Hotel Saigon, the Hotel Continental Saigon, the Grand Hotel Saigon as well as Dam Sen and Van Thanh tourism sites.

Asian Youth Jazz Orchestra 2015 recruits musicians

The Japan Foundation Asia Center has officially announced recruitment for the Asian Youth Jazz Orchestra 2015, which aims to form a new jazz orchestra consisting of Asian musicians and provide opportunities for participation in rehearsal camps in Tokyo and performances throughout Asia.

Through international collaboration, the Japan Foundation hopes to train musical talent. In the long run, the project will become a platform where young musicians can work together to pursue the idea of creating new music in the continent.

The judging panel comprises of arranger/conductor/trombone guidance Osamu Matsumoto, piano guidance Mayuko Katakura and producer Ryonosuke Hommura.

Candidates between 18 and 26 years of age are required to send their application forms and audio demonstrations to jun_kawai@jpf.org.vn by January 5, next year. For more information, visit jpf.org.vn.