Hue Festival 2014 receives VND14 billion in funding

Authorities have allocated approximately VND14 billion (roughly US$700,000) to organizing and hosting the 2014 Hue Festival, this year themed “Cultural Heritage with Integration and Development”.

The festival is expected to feature art troupes from more than 30 countries around the world.

Local artists and performances will showcase music and dance from Vietnam’s diverse regional traditions, including Hue’s famous royal court music and traditional songs.

The Hue Royal Complex’s Dai Noi (Mandarin's House) and An Dinh Palace will host key festival events, but sideshows and celebrations are planned for a variety of Thua Thien-Hue localities.

Hospitals and factories will hold their own events for workers and residents unable to attend the main festivities.

Thua Thien-Hue Provincial People’s Committee Vice Chairperson and Hue Festival Organising Board member Ngo Hoa explained the festival aims to honour and preserve Hue Imperial City’s unique cultural and historical traditions.

2013 ASEAN-Japan Youth festival under way

The 2013 ASEAN-Japan Youth Festival opened in HCM City on November 14 with the participation of delegates joining the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSAYP) 2013.

Around 329 young delegates from ten ASEAN nations and Japan participated in folk games and a quiz on traditional culture and history of each nation and talked about what they experienced during the journey.

They enjoyed special performances by art troupes from different nations. Through a special program by Vietnamese artists they gained a better understanding of Vietnam’s land and people.

Nguyen Cao The from the Education and Information Department of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, said that his delegation wanted to give international friends an insight into the country’s traditional culture and its people’s daily life, sentiments and hospitality.

Vietnam attends Asian Cultural Forum in Hong Kong

A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho Anh Tuan took park in the 2013 Asia Cultural Cooperation Forum (ACCF 2013) in China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on November 14.

The event attracted representatives from nine other countries including China, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines.

At the event, the Vietnamese delegation said that the country has put forth policies to support and encourage the creativeness of writers and artists as well as protect their works and intellectual property.

Vietnam affirmed that culture and cultural cooperation in Asia for sustainable development in the context of globalisation need more practical multilateral interactions and dialogues.

Deputy Minister Tuan highlighted the importance of culture and literature in particular in the development history of humankind, noting that it is an inner strength of sustainable development.

Participants shared view that literature and culture play an important role in human life and development history.

They also proposed promoting cultural exchanges and cooperation within the region, affirming the forum serves as a bridge linking regional cultures, helping them show off their identities and reinforce solidarity.

German music band charms port city’s audience

Four-member German music band Aufbau West stirred the atmosphere in the northern port city of Hai Phong with youthful and dynamic songs during their show on November 14.

It marks the first time Aufbau West, one of the most successful band in Germany, has performed in Vietnam. After Hai Phong, it will enchant Hanoians on November 16 before touring of Ho Chi Minh City on November 19.

Earlier, the band had an exchange with students of the Tran Phu Secondary School, which boasts a large number of students attending the summer camp in Germany this year.

The German band’s activities are within a German festival slated for November 16 at the Vietnam National Museum of History in Hanoi.

The event features a wide range of programmes, from music and game shows, presentations on the German culture to film screening and forums.

Kien leads lineup for singing showdown

 Pham Trung Kien, who won the HCM City Television's (HTV) 2010 Tieng Ca Hoc Duong (Singing School), will be among eight women and men contestants in the final round of the station's annual singing contest Tieng Hat Truyen Hinh, beginning tonight.

The 22-year-old tenor of Binh Thuan Province has also entered the final round of this year's Sao Mai singing contest.

Kien said after the victory in 2010 that he had focused on study and practise as well as taken part in few singing contests.

He added that he believed he would win this year's contest because of "my emotional voice, confidence and experience".

Like Kien, many finalists are those who received top prizes in several contests across the country, including Do Thi Phuong Diep, winner of the Tuyen Quang TV Station's singing contest in 2009.

With experiences and singing skills, the final eight, four males and four females, showed their beautiful voices and professional performances to defeat 1,000 others in the preliminary and semi-final rounds. They competed in five shows of the final round.

Singer and composer Bao Lan, a judge, commented that the contestants had shown "careful preparation and profession in their performances".

"However, in later shows, we hope to see more progress and emotion in their voices because this is a singing contest," she said.

Composer Nguyen Ngoc Thien said: "This year's contestants are brave for singing new songs and not works that have been popular with audiences in the last 22 years of the contest."

He said that the new and meaningful songs would impress the judges and the audiences.

In the final round, the contestants will sing songs of different genres and on selected topics, including patriotic, contemporary folk, folk and pop. They will also perform songs chosen by the judges and other competitors.

Based on the judges' scores, the elimination of contestants will begin after the third show until the last three singers enter the grand finale on December 13.

The finalists will sing a solo, a duet with previous contests' winners and a song with foreign singers.

The winner will receive a prize of VND100 million (US$4,700) in cash and gifts.

All shows will be broadcast live at 8.30pm every Friday on HTV9 channel.

Readers to vote for favourite titles

The HCM City Book Distribution Corporation (FAHASA) has opened the voting process to choose readers' most favorite books for its biennial awards.

Prizes will be given to ten books that receive the maximum votes from readers.

Gifts worth a total of VND62 million (US$3,000) will be given to voters, FAHASA said.

Readers across the country can vote for the books at www.fahasa.com or cast their ballots in boxes placed at FAHASA stores from November 20 until February 28.

In 2011, the year that the award was instituted, nearly 15,000 readers cast their votes, and it is hoped that the number will increase this year.

Last year, FAHASA distributed more than 56 million copies of books and other cultural products.

HCM City hosts student film fest

The first film festival held for students in HCM City has been taking submissions till December 7, according to the organiser, the Viet Nam Students Association in HCM City.

The festival, which will screen the films and videos from December 12-26, is also being sponsored by the MegaStar Communications Company.

With the theme, "Student Aspiration", the festival was designed to give students an opportunity to explore their creativity.

Students' short films, documentaries and video clips about stories related to their lives and learning environment will be screened at the festival. The winning films and videos will be shown in the cinemas of the MegaStar Communication Co Ltd in HCM City and Ha Noi.

With the film festival, students have an opportunity to make films and learn from directors and producers, Pham Kieu Hung, the association's deputy head, said.

Caricature contest calls for entries

The biennial Viet Nam press-caricature painting contest, the Rong Tre (Bamboo Dragon) Cup, kicked off yesterday welcoming entries from amateur and professional caricaturists living in Viet Nam.

Each competitor may send up to 10 works, between a minimum size of A3 (420 x 297mm) and a maximum size of A2 (524 x 420mm). The hand-drawn paintings and computer-processed graphics will be featured in print and online press publications between January 31, 2012 and February 14, 2014. Both Vietnamese and foreign nationals are eligible to enter the contest.

This fourth contest has an open theme, with entries expected to portray a comprehensive vision of diversified society, through the eyes of caricaturists.

The winner will claim a cash prize of VND15 million (US$700) and a year's subscription to The Thao & Van Hoa Cuoi Tuan (Sports & Culture Weekend) publication.

Entries can be sent via post to The Thao & Van Hoa headquarters, 5 Ly Thuong Kiet Street or emailed to biemhoa@thethaovanhoa.vn until February 14, 2014.

Norwegians inspire three concerts

Artists from Norway, Viet Nam, the Netherlands, Germany and the United States will perform three shows, starting tonight.

The event, titled Meeting in November, is part of a Viet Nam-Norway Transposition Music Project.

It will feature new works by Do Tuan, Le Thanh Xuan, Nguyen Manh Duy Linh, Tran Dinh Lang (from Viet Nam), Suzanne Grunewwald (Germany) and Olivier Schreuder (the Netherlands).

Tomorrow night's show will cover chamber music by the Maecheler Trio from Germany, while the show on Saturday night will be especially for electronic music.

The three shows start at 8pm at the HCM City Music Academy, Nguyen Du Street, District 1.

Soc Trang Province ready for first ‘Ngo’ Boat Race Festival

The Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang has already prepared for the first ‘Ngo’ Boat Race Festival of the ethnic Khmer people to be held from November 14-17, according to Tran Thanh Nghiep, Vice Chairman the People’s Committee.

Some activities such as folk games, traditional art performances and ethnic costume competitions have been kicked off since November 11, he said.

The most important event of the festival is the ‘Ngo’ boat race, one of the highlights of the many traditional historical and cultural events of Khmer people. The race attracts around 62 teams from across the country.

The first ‘Ngo’ Boat Race Festival will be a chance to promote tourism in Soc Trang and introduce the culture of Khmer people to visitors. The event will also include a wide range of activities such as trade fairs, exhibitions, a traditional food festival, art performances and ethnic costume competitions.

Soc Trang Province has unique cultural characteristics which are cultural values of people such as Khmer, Kinh and Hoa ethnic minority groups.

Khmer people in the province nowadays have been trying production and trade to raise income and improve their living. They have applied latest science and technology methods in production as well, Mr. Nghiep said.

‘Ngo’ boat is considered a sacred object of the ethnic Khmer people. The special boat is made of wood by artisans and Khmer Buddhist monks. The boat is decorated with images of dragons, tigers, elephants, lions and peacocks representing the power of the boat.

‘Ngo’ boat race is also one of the activities to celebrate the Ok Om Bok Festival which is held on the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month every year with plenty of entertainment, art performances, traditional sports and games, and releasing of buoyant paper lanterns in the air and on the river.

During the festival, people pray for good luck, happiness, good weather and a bumper crop, and express their sorrow and worries and pray that their god will bestow favors on them and give them a better life.

Source: VOV/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri