Sài Gòn River is an attractive destination for tourism, culture and art. Photo dantri.vn

HCM CITY The upcoming HCM City river festival, and especially its first-ever real-scene art programme, is expected to boost the development of the city’s tourism industry.

Sài Gòn - Dòng Sông Kể Chuyện (Sài Gòn - Tales of the River) is a special art programme directed by the HCM City People’s Committee and carried out by the Department of Tourism, the Department of Culture and Sports and related agencies.

It will be held at 8pm on August 6 on the Sài Gòn River, a place associated with the history of development of Gia Định - Sài Gòn - HCM City.

When tourism, culture and art combine

Real-scene performance is an art form that combines traditional stage materials with modern sound and light effects, creating unique experiences for viewers.

This type of performance has been held in a number of provinces and cities, including Ký Ức Hội An (Memory of Hội An) in Quảng Nam, Tinh Hoa Bắc Bộ (The essence of the North) in Hà Nội, Ký Ức Làng Chài (Memories of a fishing village) in Phan Thiết.

And in the upcoming festival, HCM City will officially introduce a similar programme, Sài Gòn - Dòng Sông Kể Chuyện.

General director of the programme Lê Hải Yến has spent a lot of time researching the history of Sài Gòn - HCM City and met various experts and historians - such as Assoc. Prof. and Dr. Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, former Rector of Hồng Bàng University; journalist Phạm Công Luận, known as "the keeper of memories of Sài Gòn - HCM City”; together with many experts at the University of Culture and University of Social Sciences and Humanities - before writing the script.

The programme has five chapters which are "Emergency", "Opening the realm", "On the dock under the boat", "Pearl of the Far East" and "Brilliant riverside city" with the participation of more than 600 actors.

Sài Gòn - Dòng Sông Kể Chuyện will use 3D technology, a water music system and high power laser lights, among other modern twists, to bring a colourful party to participants.

Experts believe that Sài Gòn - Dòng Sông Kể Chuyện will not only attract domestic and foreign tourists to HCM City to enjoy the first real-scene show, but also create a push to turn the Sài Gòn River into an attractive destination of tourism, culture and art.

According to Assoc. Prof. and Dr. Nguyễn Thị Minh Thái, HCM City has already had many unique cultural and tourism activities such as Đầm Sen - Sắc màu cảm xúc (Đầm Sen - Emotional colors) at Đầm Sen Cultural Park in District 11 and Cycling Tour - Ngày bình yên trên vùng đất thép (Peaceful day in the land of steel) in Củ Chi District, among others.

Their success has proven the potential of cultural tourism in HCM City.

Recently, HCM City has been one of two cities in Asia among the 15 most searched destinations in the world.

Along with that, some tourism activities in HCM City, for the first time, were promoted on the international media channel CNN.

"These are positive signs. HCM City is ready to welcome more tourists and investors," Thái said.

People’s Artist Trần Minh Ngọc said she expects the upcoming river festival and special art programme Sài Gòn - Dòng Sông Kể Chuyện will be inspiring.

It will promote the economic, cultural, artistic and tourism values of the Sài Gòn River to the fullest, Ngọc said. — VNS