HCM City gets ready for festive season

The HCM City Youth Cultural House is preparing to greet the Christmas and New Year festive season.

Dozens of concerts, art exhibitions, circus and comedy shows will begin in early December.

The festival week called Noel Ngot Ngao – Don Chao Nam Moi 2015 (Sweet Noel- Welcome A Happy New Year) will be held on December 24 through the first day of 2015, offering a programme of music, dance, comedy, circus and puppet shows. Young singers and comic artists will participate the event every night.

A painting festival will begin this week to encourage hundreds of children and teenagers paint and make season greeting cards for their family, teachers and friends.

The house will also host fashion show featuring fashion models and pop stars, who entertain the audience from an imposing stage with spectacular light and sound effects.

More than 15,000 youngsters are expected to attend the house's festive activities.   

German electronic band arrives in Vietnam

German electronic music band Stabil Elite will have four performances in Hanoi, Danang and HCMC from Dec. 2 to 6, as part of its Southeast Asian tour.

The band will have performances at Youth Theater in Hanoi on Dec. 2, at Danang University on Dec. 3, Bach Viet College in HCMC’s Go Vap District on Dec. 5 and at Ben Thanh Theater in HCMC’s District 1 on Dec. 6. There are also meetings and workshops between the band and local audiences and especially, a session to instruct local youth on how to compose electronic music on an iPad.

The band from Düsseldorf, Germany consists of vocalist/organist/producer Lukas Croon, guitarist Martin Sonnensberger, organist/vocalist/producer Nikolai Szymanski, drummer Lukas Heerich and bassist Timo Hein. They have been winners of numerous electronic music awards in Germany. Their music is a combination of sounds from guitar, bass, drum, sound mixture set, three-string sitar, xylophone and especially wood and metal that can generate melodies.

In 2012, Stabil Elite celebrated their first hit “Gold” and then a successful album “Douze Pouze” in 2013.

The band’s tour which also takes in Phnom Penh on Dec. 7 and the Philippines from Dec. 10-13 is organized by Goethe Institute in Vietnam, Meta-House Phnom Penh and Goethe Institute in Manila.

Further information can be found at www.goethe.de/vietnam.

Cham museum adds audio service

Da Nang's Cham Sculpture Museum added audio-guided tours to the resources it offers visitors, Vo Van Thang, the museum's director, said yesterday.

He said that the system would provide information on displays in the museum's four main areas – Tra Kieu, My Son, Dong Duong and Mam towers.

The museum offers the service for VND20,000 per visitor, in addition to ticket fees.

The audio guides are offered in 14 languages, and visitors will be able to connect them to their smart phones.

The museum hosts around 200,000 visitors annually.

Photos highlight fatherly violence

A photo exhibit entitled Dad, I Wish... will take place at the Ha Noi Goethe Institute beginning tomorrow.

The exhibit features 23 photo collections revealing the hardships of young boys suffering from domestic violence in their own homes.

The stories depicted in Dad, I Wish... were discovered in the cities and farmlands of Ha Noi, Ha Nam, Hoa Binh, Hung Yen, and Bac Ninh, revealing the widespread impact of domestic violence.

Recently in Viet Nam and around the world, photography has evolved as an effective method for raising public awareness of global social issues.

The most commonly used tool, known as Photovoice, empowers marginalised people by allowing them to reclaim their voice.

This method of communication effectively reveals the raw truth about communities all over the world and inspires individuals and communities to take action for the greater public good.

With the artistic support of photographer Nguyen The Son, Dad, I Wish... helps the children voice their desire for a model father and a happy family.

Concert features Truong Sa soldiers

The HCM City Television will broadcast a music show on Wednesday featuring soldiers stationed on the Truong Sa (Spratly) islands.

The show, called Bien Oi Hay Len Tieng (The Voice of the Seas), will include contemporary music composed by talented musicians like Hong Dang and Quynh Hop. More than 30 artists will join the event.

Young singers Ha Thuy Anh and Y Jang Tuyn, and the girl band Hoa Nang (Sunflower) will sing songs about Truong Sa composed by HCM City Music Conservatory's musicians after their fact-finding stay with the soldiers on the islands.

"We want to send our love to Truong Sa soldiers," said singer Y Jang Tuyn of the Banar ethnic minority group in Dak Lac Province.

The show will be broadcast at 9pm on Wednesday on HCM City Television's HTV9 channel.

Renowned cai luong (reformed opera) artist Hong Nga plans to organise a live show to mark her 70th birthday on January 17 in HCM City.

The Nua The Ky Con Tam Nha To (Artist Weaving Heart and Soul Into Half a Century of Cai Luong) will be directed by People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau and organised at Hoa Binh Theatre.

As an artist for more than five decades, the veteran has impressed Vietnamese audiences of cai luong and plays with roles in Co Gai Do Long, Tuyet Tinh Ca, Me Yeu, Tinh Nghe Sy and others.

She is organising this show to express her sincere thanks to her audience. All of the money collected from the show will be donated to a charity helping artists facing difficult situation in life.

Apart from cai luong, the show will also include comedy and music performed by other renowned artists including Bao Quoc, Ngoc Giau, Minh Vuong, Phuong Hong Thuy, Que Tran, comedian Hoai Linh, Viet Huong, and Truong Giang.

This will be her second live show. The first was organised to mark her 48 years on stage at Trong Dong Stage in 2008.

"I have been an artist for 55 years. And I want to leave an impression. Now, I am going to be 70. I cannot predict how long my life will last, so this will be the biggest and most interesting show of mine," she was quoted as saying in The Thao & Van Hoa (Sports and Culture) newspaper.

New game show seeks comedy talents

"Anything goes as long as it makes the judges crack up" is the brief participants get in a new game show titled Thach Thuc Danh Hai (Crack Them Up) that has cash prizes worth VND100 million (US$4,761).

It is based on a successful Ukrainian game show.

Produced by Dien Quan Media and Entertainment Co., it aims to discover new comedy talents whose challenge is to make comedians Tran Thanh and Viet Huong laugh in five rounds of a minute each.

Starting at VND2 million ($95) for succeeding in round one, the prize money will keep increasing exponentially.

Unlike other game shows, Thach Thuc Danh Hai does not have age or nationality restrictions for participants, and foreigners can register to take part.

There will be auditions in HCM City (November 28-30), Vinh Long (December 12), and Can Tho (December 13-14). In HCM City, an estimated 450 people have registered.

The show is set to debut in the second quarter of next year on HCM Television.

Toyota gives grants to music students

The Toyota Vietnam Foundation in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Training has awarded 85 grants worth VND340 million (US$16,200) to local music students.

The grants were given to talented young musicians at schools all over the country, including the Viet Nam National Academy of Music, the Hue Academy of Music, the HCM City Academy of Music and the Viet Bac Culture and Arts College.

The foundation has so far awarded 560 grants to Vietnamese music students.

Funding for the programme comes from ticket sales for the Toyota Concert Tour 2014 that passed through Ha Noi, Nac Lac and HCM City in August, and the Toyota Classics 2014 held in HCM City on November 18.

Laos Cultural Week to be held in Vietnam

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and its Laos counterpart will co-organise the 2014 Laos Cultural Week in Vietnam during December 2 – 7 to mark the Laos National Day (December 2).

The event, as part of Vietnam – Laos cooperation plan on culture this year, will take place in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces of Hau Giang and Vinh Long.

Highlights of the week are performances of art troupes from Laos, which are expected to introduce the traditional culture of the Lao people as well as the special friendship bonds between the two countries.

Old book festival - A meeting for book lovers in Hanoi

The first Hanoi Old Book Festival 2014 is taking place at No.176 Thai Ha Street, Hanoi on November 29-30 with a series of useful activities.

The event offers book lovers the opportunity to exchange their old books for new ones and to take part in a seminar on book with Lawyers Ta Thu Phong, Translator Dinh Ba Anh and Doctor Nguyen Duc Thanh, who are well-known book collectors in Hanoi.

Highlight of the festival is a book exhibition, which showcases some precious books from Hanoi Library and Information Centre under The Ministry of Education and Training.

Organised by Alpha Books Company, the festival aims to create a cultural space, where brings old book lovers and secondhand booksellers closer. The festival is scheduled to be held annually in the future.

The event attracts the participation some organisations and individuals in exchanging old book field such as Ha Thanh Secondhand Book, Books sales, Ancient Book, Tung’s books and Chien Secondhand Book. The units introduce many precious books such as Dream psychology: psychoanalysis for beginners translated by Nguyen Xuan Hieu in 1970, which is highly evaluated by collectors.

The books will be auctioned at the event. The organising board will spend 50 percent of the amount from the auction to buy books for Lac Son A High school’s library, in Lac Son district, Hoa Binh province.

Additionally, Alpha Books Company will call for donations of books for the Lac Son A High school’s library.

Soap opera on HIV/AIDS prevention staged

A drama titled “Cau vong khuyet” to promote the people’s awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention was staged for free with the support of the U.S. Consulate General and U.S.-based organization PEPFAR at Idecaf in District 1 on Nov. 29, Dec. 1 and Dec. 6 to mark the World Aids Day (Dec. 1).

The drama directed by veteran actress Kim Khanh tells about a love story of a homosexual couple who face the insurmountable barrier of public opinions. The message of the play is to call on the community to have healthy lifestyle to eliminate the spread of HIV/AIDS disease and to have sympathy to homosexual.

Audiences can get invitations to the show at Idecaf at 28 Thai Van Lung Street in District 1. The drama making team will also introduce it to students at the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities and the Industrial University of HCMC and other universities in the Mekong Delta.

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the U.S. Government initiative to help save the lives of those suffering from HIV/AIDS around the world. Since 2005 it has sponsored about US$400 million for HIV/AIDS prevention in Vietnam. The organization has made annual donations to local art projects to call on people’s awareness on the HIV/AIDS prevention.

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