World leading DJs set for Hanoi performance

Ten leading international and Vietnamese DJs will gather tonight at the American Club, 19 Hai Ba Trung Street from 6.30-11pm, to serve up a feast of music for Hanoian audiences.

The music event will kick off with the performance of the US-based duo DJs KimKat, who were named the "No 1 FHM 100 Sexiest Women of the World."

Also, for the first time in Viet Nam, the World's Best Live Performing DJ, Steve Aoki, will offer a special live performance.

DJMAG – a British magazine dedicated to electronic dance music (EDM) and DJs, ranks the American electro house musician as No 8 on its 2013 list.

The music feast will also feature other local DJs, including Tung Do, Viet EKS-LIFT, and SlimV-LIFT.

For more information and tickets, please call 0935093388.

‘Taste of the World’ culinary festival returns

The annual food festival titled ‘Taste of the World’ featuring Vietnamese and International dishes will be held at September 23 Park in Ho Chi Minh City from December 5-8.

Some 120 display booths of restaurants, hotels, vocational schools of restaurants and hotels, and consulates in Ho Chi Minh City will attract visitors with hundreds of dishes from 20 countries and territories.

The food festival also includes many activities such as art performances, folk games, presentation by Chefs of five star hotels, bartender performance, introduction of wine, cooking instruction and performance by the South Korean World Food Culture Center.

The event is being organized by the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the HCMC Tourism Association.

Exhibition opens featuring northern communal houses

An art exhibition featuring the unique spaces found in northern communal houses will be opened in downtown Ha Noi on Friday.

The exhibition will showcase photos on the art of sculpture and architecture found in communal houses and documentaries on traditional festivals organised at the worship places. Also, singers will perform at the opening ceremony, while a conference on preservation and utilising the space offered in communal houses in modern life will be held during the exhibition. The conference is to gather researchers of arts, history, archaeology and culture.

Village communal houses were always central locations where residents worshipped village gods, who were depicted as either real or surreal figures who were believed to have helped in building villages, fighting off invaders or teaching handicraft trades to residents. Communal houses throughout the north had been places for local residents to gather, exchange information and organise traditional festivals.

Communal houses always displayed typical examples of fine arts, sculpture and architecture, as well as the spiritual beauty of local inhabitants.

However, in the last few years communal houses in some villages have been endangered, due to the fast process of urbanisation and industrialisation.

The four-day exhibition ends next Monday at the Ha Noi Fine Arts Museum, 42 Yet Kieu Street.

Hanoi to host Japan New Year festival

Hanoi’s Giang Vo Exhibition Centre will host “Ake Ome!” – a Japanese cultural festival on December 29, celebrating New Year’s Eve 2014.

“Ake Ome” is the shortened form of " Akemashite Omedetou“, or “Happy New Year”.

The festival is expected to feature 40 booths offering Japanese specialties such as cold Soba noodles, a traditional Japanese Kadomatsu New Year decorations, carp lanterns, and Hamaya bows.

Attendees have the opportunity to experience the Daruma doll custom, perhaps even painting the doll’s eyes themselves and earning good fortune heading into the New Year.

Divination (Omikuji) and traditional dress (Yukata) will also be showcased.

The festival is intended to offer a healthy New Year’s celebratory environment for youth in Hanoi and reinforce friendship and solidarity between Vietnam and Japan.

Int’l piano festival opens in HCM City

Outstanding Vietnamese students majoring in piano along with domestic and international pianists participated in the opening performance of the 2013 International Piano Festival at the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music on December 2.

The festival includes six performances featuring piano solos, duets, and quartets.

The public are able to enjoy a free piano performance in the city’s September 23 Park on December 8.

During the event, an advanced course will be lectured by well-known pianists, including Dang Thai Son, Nguyen Nhat Tra, Nguyen Nhat Quy, Olivier Chauzu, Alexander Strukov and Ernest Lim.

The festival will run until December 7.-