A
wine gala night, which took place on the night of January 3 in Da Lat
city, marked the end of the Da Lat Flower Festival 2012.
Lasting
three hours in the misty city of Da Lat of Central Highlands Lam Dong
province, the gala attracted the participation of thousand visitors.
Five
popular Vietnamese wine brand names, including Da Lat, Vinh Tien,
Langbiang, Thang Long, and Ninh Thuan joined foreign brands at the
event.
The Da Lat Flower Festival 2012 took place from Dec. 31 to Jan. 3. It attracted 300,000 domestic and foreign visitors.
During
the festival, thousands of species of flowers from Da Lat and other
localities nationwide as well as other countries were displayed at
different locations in the city.
As part of the event, a series
activities were also organised, including a street flower parade, a
scientific seminar on flowers and a trade and tourism exhibition.
Saigontourist
introduces My Homeland Festival at Van Thanh Tourist Area in Ho Chi
Minh City’s Binh Thanh District from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on February 10, 11
and 12. This year’s festival has craft villages, countryside markets
and music shows together with food booths set up in each region.
For
the countryside market, organizers will take tourists into a colorful
trading atmosphere with young staff in costumes of the three regions of
north, central and south as well as ethnic costumes of minority groups.
There
will be a huge selection of popular dishes chosen from previous
festivals and organizers will include Mekong Delta classics from Ben Tre
and Dong Thap and southern favorites from Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau,
Ho Chi Minh City and many specialties from highland regions. Diners will
be also served many folk snacks.
Visitors will be entertained
with music performances such as cheo, tuong (opera of the north),
singing from Hue and the south central region and don ca tai tu
(southern opera singing).
Revelers will have a chance to enjoy
performances of Khmer artisans from Soc Trang Province, a bamboo
instrument show by artists from Buon Don Village in Dak Lak Province,
folk dance and Paranung music shows by Cham artists from Ninh Thuan
Province as well as gong performances from talented artists from Gia Lai
Province.
For folk games, tourists can join in under the
instruction of staff in fun activities such as making to he (a
traditional toy for children that is made from glutinous rice powder in
the form of edible figurines such as animals, flowers or characters from
folk stories), making boats by banana spathes and toys from coconut
leaves and kneading statues from clay.
Tourists can witness
artisans weaving bamboo baskets, fishing nets and sleeping mats, making
Hoi An lanterns, ceramics, brocades, cooking wine, rice noodles, tofu,
Trang Bang pan cake and Tra Vinh green rice flakes.
Van Thanh Tourist Area is located at 48/10 Dien Bien Phu Street in Binh Thanh District.
The
third Ben Tre Coconut Festival, themed “Ben Tre on the way of
integration and development” will be held from April 4th to 9th, 2012.
The
festival aims to offer opportunities for the southern province of Ben
Tre and other coconut growing provinces to promote their trademark,
introduce products and gradually improve coconut processing capacity.
The event is expected to attract over 200 businesses, with more than 500 kiosks displaying coconut products.
There
will be various programs during the third Ben Tre Coconut Festival,
including an exhibition of coconut products with the participation of
provinces developing the coconut industry and foreign companies in the
Asia Pacific region, a street carnival and a workshop themed “enhancing
the value chain of coconut.” Moreover, the festival will highlight
tourism activities and tours to coconut gardens, the 10th Beauty Contest
of the Land of Coconuts, a southern food festival and a week of culture
and entertainment activities.
Ben Tre’s coconut products have
been exported to more than 50 countries and territories, contributing 25
percent to total provincial industrial production value. Currently, the
coconut industry plays a significant role in provincial socio-economic
development.
The
northern midland province of Phu Tho is working with five other
provinces and cities to prepare a range of activities to commemorate the
death anniversary of the Hung Kings and celebrate the Hung Kings Temple
Festival.
According
to Ha Ke San, Vice Chairman of the Phu Tho provincial People’s
Committee, the five-day festival, which starts from March 27 (the fifth
day of the third lunar month), will be combined with tourism programmes
promoting the homeland of the nation’s legendary founders – the Hung
Kings, in Phu Tho.
Apart from traditional worshipping rituals
dedicated to the nation’s legendary father and mother, Lac Long Quan and
Au Co, as well as the Hung Kings, the festival will honour Xoan
singing, the ceremonial singing originating in Phu Tho which has been
recently recognised by the UNESCO as a world intangible cultural
heritage in need of urgent protection.
There will also be a
photo exhibition on places of worship dedicated to the Hung Kings and
relics related to the Hung Kings period nationwide.
The festival
aims to educate people about patriotism and continue completing the
dossier on worship rituals dedicated to the Hung Kings to seek
recognition as part of the World Intangible Cultural Heritage of
Humanity.
The
first culture, sports and tourism festival of ethnic minority groups in
the Central Highlands 2012 will take place from May 18th to 20th in
Buon Ma Thuot city, the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.
The
festival will strengthen solidarity and cultural exchange among ethnic
minority groups and localities in the region. It will also introduce
Central Highland ethnic minority culture and art in practice, with
activities of various ethnic groups, to people nationwide and
international friends. This will contribute to promoting solidarity
among ethnic minority groups and preserving traditional cultures in the
Central Highlands.
The festival will draw the participation of an
art troupe from each of the five Central Highland provinces. Diverse
activities such as mass art performance, ethnic clothing shows, folklore
festival, ethnic sport events, gastronomy, and Central Highlands book
and culture exhibitions will be held during the festival.
The
Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies will coordinate with the
northern province of Phu Tho to introduce and popularize the Hung Kings
worship rituals during the Hung Kings death anniversary 2012.
Accordingly,
traditional worship rituals dedicated to the nation’s legendary father
and mother, Lac Long Quan and Au Co, as well as the Hung Kings will be
introduced through art performances, seminars and exhibitions.
During
the Hung Kings death anniversary 2012, the institute aims to continue
completing the dossier on worship rituals dedicated to the Hung Kings to
seek recognition as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
According
to Ha Ke San, Vice Chairman of the Phu Tho provincial People’s
Committee, the five-day festival starting March 27th (the fifth day of
the third lunar month) will be combined with tourism programmes
promoting the homeland of the nation’s legendary founders, the Hung
Kings, in Phu Tho province.
The event will also honour Xoan
singing, the ceremonial singing style originating in Phu Tho recently
recognised by UNESCO as a world intangible cultural heritage in need of
urgent protection.
Vietnam’s
Ethnic Minority Cultural Festival will open at the Culture-Tourism
Village of Vietnamese Ethnic Groups in Hanoi on April 19.
Participants
will review related activities in the past three years and attend a
conference on tourism promotion, a mountain market fair and other
traditional games, sports and entertainment activities.
The
highlight of the event will be a Gala night to honour the culture of
Vietnam’s ethnic minorities, including the M’nong, Thai, Muong, H’mong
Ede, Hoa, Tay, Pa Then, Ro Mam, Chut, Lo Lo and Giay, to promote their
mutual understanding and solidarity.
In
the framework of the programme “Returning to the roots of Vietnamese
people” 2012, the first Red River Festival will be held from March 29th
to 31st in Van Yen district, the northern mountainous province of Yen
Bai.
The event will be jointly held by three provinces of Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Lao Cai.
Diverse
activities such as mass art performance, traditional clothing shows,
traditional food fairs, sports games, professional art performance, film
shows, exhibitions, and tours along the Red River will be held during
the festival.
The festival aims to explore the culture of the
Red River, contributing to tourism promotion in Yen Bai province in
particular and the three provinces in general.
Van Yen district
is now actively popularizing the festival, and its land and people, and
encouraging local people to welcome tourists.
