The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will open the Christmas season this week with the ballet The Nutcracker at the Opera House, featuring a conductor from Norway and dancers from Japan.

 The central province of Quang Nam’s first-ever Korean Day Festival and Korean Film Week will take place from December 11 to 17 in Tam Ky city to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea.

 Students of English at the HCMC Open University will perform dramas in English adapted from American literary works at the HCMC Drama Theater in downtown HCMC on December 9, 15, 16 and 23.

 Artists from the central city of Da Nang will display 60 of their paintings, sculptures, and lacquer, oil and canvas, and water colour paintings in an exhibition at the city’s Fine Arts Museum from December 6-12.

 Dieu Thuy left Ho Chi Minh City for China on December 3 to vie for the title of Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International 2017.

Vu Binh Minh has been triumphantly crowned Miss Vietnam Global Business 2017 in the grand finale of the pageant in Taiwan.

 Erato School of Music and Performing Arts will present a movie’s music concert at the French culture centre L’Espace on December 7.

 Miss Earth Vietnam 2017 Ha Thu will serve as a jury member in the final night of Miss Tourism Ambassador World 2017 scheduled for December 10 in the Philippines.

Vietnamese actress Khanh My was in attendance for the 1st China-Asean International Micro Film Festival in Guangxi.

 Ho Chi Minh City's Nguyen Hue Street will be decorated with flowers for the week around Lunar New Year.

 A German style Christmas Market will take place for the first time at Cua Bac Church, No.56 Phan Dinh Phung, Hanoi from December 14 to 16.

 Foreigners working and living in the central city of Da Nang will compete in ‘Da Nang’s Expat Got Talent 2017’, themed ‘New Year coming’, at the city’s Trung Vuong Theatre on December 17-18.

 The term fine art implies artists’ dedication and talent as it’s not only ‘art’, but ‘fine art’. However, you may change your perspective after learning about a class for amateur artists on Thai Ha street, Dong Da district, Hanoi.

 The exhibition titled “Remnant” by artist Le The Lam featuring the the remnants of war and the consequence of historical upheaval on the society will be open at Factory Contemporary Arts Center in Ho Chi Minh City on December 9.

 The 2nd Food Fest 2017 is set to transpire on December 8-10 in Ho Chi Minh City where guests can indulge their palates with as many as 1,500 types of food and drinks prepared by leading cuisine experts.

Upcoming events in Hanoi & HCMC from December 4-10.

 Readers, especially children, can now go on a journey through one of the wildest and most biodiverse parts of the world - a range of rugged mountains bordering Laos and Viet Nam, the Truong Son Mountain Range.

 People’s Teacher Thai Thi Lien has played the piano for nearly a century. Lien was one of the founders of the Vietnam Music School (now the Vietnam National Academy of Music) and has trained generations of students.

 A country with 54 ethnic groups, Vietnam boasts many unique tangible and intangible heritages. Together with the support of its citizens, the Vietnamese government has carried out numerous policies to preserve and promote the national treasures.

 The year 2017 is the 20th anniversary of the Vietnam Film Festival (VFF) of which the ‘young element’ has been the highlight. Most of the artists that were honoured in the movie category at the closing ceremony were young people.