VietNam Travel: festival

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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Teen anime fans throng festival

A stage adaption of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, one of the hottest manga and anime in the otaku community in Vietnam - Photo: Thanh Hang

The HCMC community of otakus – fans of anime and manga – gathered at their annual festival on Sunday at Le Thi Rieng Park, 835 Cach Mang Thang 8 Street, District 10. At the one-day event called “Teen and Otaku Festival 2011” the young comics fans bought Anime and Manga artbooks, posters, and gifts at 25 stands.

Other activities included Cosplay competitions, music contest and performances and a Manga knowledge test.

The festival was standing-room-only at some of the stalls as young people crowded to buy merchandise of their favorite characters. Thao Nguyen, 16, explained that the colorful artbook she bought came with the Nabari No Ou manga, and said she thought that VND250,000 was totally worth it. Another young girl in costume who asked the Daily to refer to her by her nickname Fuko had another way to show her passion for Manga. “I’m cosplaying as Enma-Ai in Jigoku Shoujo. I started to cosplay two years ago at fourteen because I wanted to be my favorite character in every way, from the costume to the gestures,” she said.

Another part of the festival was a cosplay competition that was held throughout the day. In two categories of group and single performance, the contest challenged the cosplayers to demonstrate the talents of their character. Some sang the soundtrack from the anime, some did the traditional dance, while others made stage adaptations of the manga or anime.

Hosted by Vang Anh Cultural Company and thegioitruyentranh.vn, previous festivals had received good feedback from anime and manga lovers.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Lunar January is festival month

People in traditional costumes prepare for a buffalo to do the first furrow at Tich Dien Festival in Ha Nam Province on Wednesday - Photo: Hoang Ha

In Vietnamese folk culture, there is a saying: ‘Thang gieng la thang an choi (The first lunar month is the month to play and enjoy the festive time). In Lunar January everywhere around the country is buzzing with traditional cultural festivities. Typical of a wet rice civilization, Vietnamese people believe that when spring comes, the fun of harvest time also comes. People spend time with family, worship their ancestors and the gods of heaven and earth and go on a pilgrimage to the pagodas to pray for happiness, prosperity and luck for the whole year. That’s why traditional festivals bloom during this most beautiful season of the year. Here are some festivals happening during the first lunar month.

Huong Pagoda Festival

The Huong Pagoda Festival which opened on Feb. 8 (the sixth day of the first lunar month) in Hanoi’s outskirt district of My Duc, so far has attracted over 15,000 Buddhist pilgrims and tourists. The festival’s organizing committee and tourists planted five sakura trees donated by Japanese monk Yoshimizu Dai Chi at Tam Bao garden in Thien Tru Pagoda.

The Huong Pagoda Festival is the biggest and longest annual festival in Vietnam, lasting three spring months. It welcomes more than 1 million pilgrims and tourists each year. Nearly 200 high-quality boats have been added to the fleet of more than 4,000 boats to serve tourists during this year’s festival. While drifting on the river, tourists can enjoy traditional music shows.

A poetry night named “Tam Xuan” (the soul of spring) will be organized next Wednesday (Feb. 16 or the 14th day of the first lunar month), a Buddhist Culture Week and a Buddhist antique exhibition will start on Feb. 19. The highlight of the culture week is a ceremony to float flower garlands and colored lanterns on the Yen Stream featuring 2011 lotuses. The Huong Pagoda Festival runs until the end of March.

Dong Da, Soc Temple and Co Loa festivals in Hanoi

The culturally rich capital boasts over 100 festivals. The Dong Da Festival on the fifth day of the first lunar month (February 7) commemorates the battle of Emperor Quang Trung against invaders of the Qing dynasty. The highlight of the festival is a Fire Dragon dance. A group of young men wearing close-fitted white clothes, with red stripes and belts, and blue puttees, raise the dragon to their heads and perform the dance of the “hovering dragon.” Additionally, there are traditional martial arts, unicorn dancing, dragon dancing, wrestling, human chess, cock fighting and religious rites.

The Soc Temple Festival on the seventh day of the first lunar month (February 9) commemorates Thanh Giong, one of the four immortal gods of Vietnamese folk culture. People from eight communes in six districts around the Soc Temple gather to celebrate the offering ceremony to pay tribute to Thanh Giong. After being acknowledged as the intangible cultural world heritage in 2011 by UNESCO, the festival has gained much attention from local people and both domestic and foreign tourists. Catherine Muller, head of the representative office of UNESCO in Vietnam, told the Vietnam News Agency at the opening day that she appreciates the community spirit of the festival and this ancient festival has been well restored and promoted.

The Co Loa Festival from the sixth to the sixteenth day of the first lunar month (from February 8 to 18) at Co Loa Commune in Dong Anh District commemorates King An Duong Vuong who came to the throne in 257 BC. Local and neighboring people join in an offering ceremony in eight communes and enjoy various entertainment activities like traditional wrestling, volleyball, human chess, love duets, water puppetry, cock fighting, swinging and rice cooking among others.

Tich Dien Festival in Ha Nam

Locals and tourists on Wednesday (the seventh day of the first lunar month) flocked to Doi Son Commune, Duy Tien District in Ha Nam Province to celebrate the Tich Dien Festival (field ploughing festival) to commemorate the first ploughing festival since the year of 987 under the reign of king Le Dai Hanh. During the festival people participated in both cultural and sports activities like volleyball contest, swinging game, foot bridge challenge and tug of war among others. The highlight of the event was 15 big buffalos ploughing a field.

Lim and Ba Chua Kho festivals in Bac Ninh

The province has the Lim Festival, a famous folk music festival, from the 11th to the 13th day of the first lunar month. People come to enjoy the festival and see the performances of “lien anh” and “lien chi” (male and female farmers) who sing quan ho (love duets) and other types of songs in the pagodas, on the hills, and in the boats. Moreover there’s a weaving competition for girls who weave and sing quan ho songs at the same time. The Lim Festival also includes all the ritual stages, from the procession to the worshipping ceremony. The Lim Festival is a special cultural activity in the North. The festival celebrates the “Quan Ho” folk song which was recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.

Ba Chua Kho Festival which will be held on the 14th day of the first lunar month (Feb. 16) at Co Me Village, Vu Ninh Commune, Bac Ninh City, Bac Ninh Province is to commemorate Ba Chua Kho or The Queen of Stock and to pray for property and good luck.

Gau Tao and Long Tong festivals in Lao Cai

This highland province has the Gau Tao Festival of the H’Mong ethnic people from the third to the fifth day of the first lunar month, the Long Tong Festival of the Tay people in the rice fields near their village on the fifth or 15th day of the first lunar month, and the dancing festival of the Red Dao ethnic people on the first and second days of the new year.

Moreover, there are other festivals like Gia La Festival in Duong Noi Commune, Hoai Duc District, Hanoi from the sixth day to the 14th day of the first lunar month (Feb. 8 to 16); the Sai Temple Festival in Thuy Lam Commune, Dong Anh District, Hanoi on the 12th day of the first lunar month (Feb. 14); the Va Temple Festival in Trung Hung Commune, Son Tay Townlet, Hanoi on the 15th day of the first lunar month (Feb. 17) and the Tam Thanh Pagoda Festival in Lang Son City, Lang Son Province on the 15th day of the first lunar month (Feb. 17).

Friday, January 21, 2011

Fun with banh chung at Sea Horse Resort

Spring fair in Phan Thiet

A team makes a banh chung at Tuesday’s festival at the Sea Horse Resort in Phan Thiet - Photo: Khai Nguyen

Hundreds of holidayers in Phan Thiet cheered on their favorite team at a banh chung wrapping contest at a festival at Sea Horse Resort on Tuesday night.

The contest to make the square glutinous rice cake filled with green bean paste and pork fat was part of a banh chung festival held by the resort. Twenty three teams, many of them tourists from Russia, Germany, Estonia and Rumania, competed.

In 15 minutes, the teams had to wrap all the ingredients of a banh chung in banana leaves and tie it with string under guidance of the resort staff.

All the teams finished the cake on time but the most beautiful banh chung belonged to three teams from Russia.

A Vietnamese overseas lady, Le Thu Nguyet, said, “I am Vietnamese but this is the first time I have made a banh chung. It is a joyful experience after 23 years away from my country.”

All the cakes were boiled to serve guests. “Touring Vietnam, I can
discover many landscapes and learn interesting things interesting about culture, food and history,” said Billy Karksson,a tourist from Sweden.

The festival is held at the resort every year so visitors can know about the traditional Vietnamese Tet festival.

*Binh Thuan Province will hold its Spring Fair at Nguyen Tat Thanh Square in Phan Thiet City from January 22 to 27 with about 150 booths.

Organizers hope the fair will add extra color to the province’s Tet celebrations and bring luck to
enterprises to promote their businesses and find partners.

The fair will feature food, cosmetics, household utensils, souvenirs, fine arts products and home decorations.

Nightly music shows, children’s games, promotions and discount programs promise to make it a fun event.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Phu My Hung Flower Festival

A group of Vietnamese ladies wearing ao dai walk around last year’s Phu My Hung Flower Festival 2010 - Photo: The organizers

Phu My Hung Flower Festival 2011 will present a week dedicated to the Vietnamese craft of growing flowers starting January 26 at The Crescent in the Phu My Hung urban area in HCMC’s District 7.

The festival, co-organized by Phu My Hung Joint Venture Company and HCMC Ornamental Creature Association, expects to attract more than 500 enterprises displaying flowers, fruit and Tet (Lunar New Year) products.

One of the highlights will be a flower contest “Hoa dong co noi” for growers and gardeners to enter.

The festival also includes a flower-garland releasing festival to pray for happiness and good luck by the lake.

The lake will be decorated with giant lotus flowers which will be lit for photo opportunities. Different festival areas include Cat Square with flowers arranged in the shapes of cats, the apricot and peach blossom section, 12 animal designations of the lunar calendar and the legend about the man, Mai An Tiem, who discovered the watermelon.

Following the success of last year’s event, the organizers will hold
another orchid and frangipani contest.

There will be music shows at the festival every night till it ends Feb 1.

Phu My Hung Flower Festival

A group of Vietnamese ladies wearing ao dai walk around last year’s Phu My Hung Flower Festival 2010 - Photo: The organizers

Phu My Hung Flower Festival 2011 will present a week dedicated to the Vietnamese craft of growing flowers starting January 26 at The Crescent in the Phu My Hung urban area in HCMC’s District 7.

One of the highlights will be a flower contest “Hoa dong co noi” for growers and gardeners to enter.

The festival also includes a flower-garland releasing festival to pray for happiness and good luck by the lake.

Following the success of last year’s event, the organizers will hold
another orchid and frangipani contest.

There will be music shows at the festival every night till it ends Feb 1.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Phu My Hung Flower Festival

A group of Vietnamese ladies wearing ao dai walk around last year’s Phu My Hung Flower Festival 2010 - Photo: The organizers

Phu My Hung Flower Festival 2011 will present a week dedicated to the Vietnamese craft of growing flowers starting January 26 at The Crescent in the Phu My Hung urban area in HCMC’s District 7.

One of the highlights will be a flower contest “Hoa dong co noi” for growers and gardeners to enter.

The festival also includes a flower-garland releasing festival to pray for happiness and good luck by the lake.

Following the success of last year’s event, the organizers will hold
another orchid and frangipani contest.

There will be music shows at the festival every night till it ends Feb 1.

Phu My Hung Flower Festival

A group of Vietnamese ladies wearing ao dai walk around last year’s Phu My Hung Flower Festival 2010 - Photo: The organizers

Phu My Hung Flower Festival 2011 will present a week dedicated to the Vietnamese craft of growing flowers starting January 26 at The Crescent in the Phu My Hung urban area in HCMC’s District 7.

One of the highlights will be a flower contest “Hoa dong co noi” for growers and gardeners to enter.

The festival also includes a flower-garland releasing festival to pray for happiness and good luck by the lake.

Following the success of last year’s event, the organizers will hold
another orchid and frangipani contest.

There will be music shows at the festival every night till it ends Feb 1.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Newspapers welcome Tet at festival

A newspaper festival to welcome New Year 2011 will be held Jan 20 and 21 from 9 a.m. at the Youth Cultural Center, 1 Pham Ngoc Thach St., HCMC’s District 1.

The festival will feature 45 booths from all the national print newspapers, magazines, radio news and electronic newspapers. Well-known reporters will be there to talk to visitors and discuss the special editions for the Lunar New Year.

One booth will display the cover pages of all the newspapers and have pictorial displays about 12 remarkable news events in 2010.

Visitors can relax in the Tet corner with special Lunar New Year editions to read over while enjoying a free drink. Participants can also vote for their favorite newspapers in a poll run by the organizers. Students will receive free copies of their favorite papers.

Other attractions include music, drama, health consultancy, circus, juggling and food. Amazing prizes will be granted to readers and visitors who come on stage to perform with the artists.

A music & fashion gala named “Thong diep mua xuan 2011” (A note from Spring 2011) featuring entertainment by Nguyen Phi Hung Jimmy Nguyen, Vietnam Idol 2008’s finalist Thanh Duy and special guests will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 20.

The festival is organized by the HCMC Department of Information and Communications and HCMC Journalists’ Association.

Friday, November 26, 2010

December is food festival month in HCMC

A Singaporean chef shows how to make chili crab at the Tastes of the World 2009 at the September 23 Park in HCMC’s District 1 - Photo: Kieu Giang

Rice dishes from the length and breadth of Vietnam and food from around the world will feature at two big food and culture festivals coming to HCMC next month.

The culture-culinary Hat Lua Que Toi (My country’s rice grain) festival from December 10-12 at Binh Quoi 1 in Binh Thanh District will promote about 100 different dishes made from rice from every corner of Vietnam.

From December 27 to January 3, the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will hold the Tastes of the World 2010 festival at September 23 Park in District 1 with dishes from 20 countries.

Vendors at the Hat Lua Que Toi festival will peddle their goods and cry out their wares as they do on the streets of the three regions. The hardship of the farmers working on the rice fields will also be highlighted.

“We’ve made 10 survey trips to find dishes for the festival,” said Chiem Thanh Long, director of Binh Quoi Tourist Village.

Binh Quoi organized a similar event in 2008 that presented southern cuisine.

Long said the tourist village wants to attract more families to this year’s event. “Parents can bring their children to enjoy food and learn how farmers plant rice and the rice culture of Vietnam,” he said.

The village expects to sell around 7,500 tickets for three-day festival that runs from 5 p.m to 10 p.m. The ticket costs VND220,000 per adult, and VND150,000 for a child.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Saigontourist October food programs

International tourists join the fastive atmosphere of Oktoberfest at the Lion Restaurant last year - Photo: Courstesy of Saigontourist

Three Saigontourist restaurants and tourist sites announce new food programs for October.

Lion Restaurant (11 Lam Son Square, District 1, tel: 3823 8514)

On Friday and Saturday the German beer festival, Oktoberfest, will be awash with a variety of German draft beers and 1,000 liters of a special beer made exclusively for the festival from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Try traditional German dishes and dance to the live music, see a fire dance and bartender performance and enjoy exciting games.

Oktoberfest is organized annually in October by Lion Restaurant. This year it coincides with the 200th anniversary of the festival in Germany.

Participants will receive attractive gifts, including a chance to win two vouchers for free beer-drinking at the restaurant for one year. Tickets are VND549,000.

Van Thanh Tourist Area (48/10 Dien Bien Phu Street, Binh Thanh District, tel: 3512 3025)

A buffet program named “Thang Long specialties” will be held on the nights of October 9-10 featuring more than 50 old and new specialties of Hanoi such as Hanoi fish paste, am fish porridge, day grilled chopped meat and edible snail cooked with green banana. Enjoy folk songs of the North while you eat. Tickets are VND190,000 per adult and VND120,000 per child.

Van Thanh Tourist Area has organized many big events including “Saigon ngay toi 30” on Reunification Day in 2005 feeding over 5,000 people, “Taste of the World” festival in 2007 and 2008, “Thang Long gastronomy in the South” festival in 2009 and “Ngay hoi que toi” festival from 2005 to 2009.

Dam Sen Cultural Park (3 Hoa Binh Street, District 11, tel: 3865 0921)

Take part in the “Phutho Tourist’s gastronomy towards the Grand Anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi” will be held from October 8 to 10 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring more than 100 unique cuisines from Hanoi and around the country made by Dam Sen’s talented cooks.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Hanoi’s grand anniversary to honor ao dai

Models perform ao dai at a fashion show in HCMC - Photo: Kieu Giang

A huge ao dai (Vietnamese long dress) festival will take place in the program “The fanciful night on Sword Lake” on the evening of October 1, kicking off the festival for the grand millennial anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, reports Vietnam News Agency.

Collections of ao dai from Vietnam’s three regions - the North, South and central -will be paraded by models from Ngoc Son Temple to The Huc Bridge and But Temple on Sword Lake. The dress collections will be displayed along a specially-built 350m catwalk decorated with woven mats, conical hats, and lively dioramas depicting Hanoi in ancient times.

The 45-minute ao dai performance, which will be broadcast live nationally on TV, will be followed by a 15-minute light festival and fireworks display.

Vietnamese designer Duc Hung will bring his four seasons collection to the festival.

“Hanoi has four seasons with distinctive characters which inspired me to create this collection,” said Hung.

Hung said he carefully selected made-in-Vietnam materials and colors for his collections, using brocade for spring, silk for summer, voile for autumn, and velvet for winter.

Hung’s ao dai collections will also present colors representing Vietnamese festivals of three regions such as pink for peach blossoms for Tet in the North, Hue purple for the Central and bright yellow representing the apricot blossoms of the South. Hung has designed 500 sets of ao dai as gifts for the festival to promote the Vietnamese long dress for international friends - Japan, France and Russia.

Hung’s ao dai collection will again be paraded to the sound of bronze drums in the program “Thang Long – the flying dragon city” on the evening of October 10 at the My Dinh National Stadium.

Monday, September 13, 2010

All invited to HCMC whale worshipping festival

Fishing boats in Can Gio take part in a previous whale worshipping Festival- Photo: The organizers

Fishermen in HCMC’s Can Gio District will celebrate the traditional whale worshipping festival for four days from September 21 to 24 (from the 14th to 17th of the eighth lunar month) in Can Thanh Commune.

The festival aims to preserve traditional culture and promote tourism in the southern delta district of HCMC.

The Can Gio authorities invite tourists to come and enjoy cultural and sports activities including the ceremony at sea to worship the whale, releasing flower lanterns, folk games (catching ducks, roping crabs, casting nets and playing football on stilts), the HCMC Beach Volleyball Tournament and the district’s Petanque Open Tournament.

Other activities at the festival include student mini football championships, performances of traditional martial arts, flying kites, lantern making contest, displays about Sac Forest, a specialty food market and a fair selling local souvenirs and specialties.

The organizing committee will increase the number of ferries and buses for visitors to the festival while 20 hotels, motels and restaurants are preparing for the extra numbers at the event.

The whale worshipping festival is one of the most popular cultural events in Vietnam that takes place in fishing villages from the central coastal province of Quang Binh to the South. To fishermen this festival carries a lot of meaning as they believe that whales are their sacred guardians that protect them from dangers at sea.

The whale worshipping festival is organized by the Can Gio People’s Committee, the HCMC People’s Committee and the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Greener theme for vegetarian food festival

A three-day Vegetarian Food Festival will be held for the first time in HCM City at District 1's September 23 Park.

Apart from restaurants, around 80 stalls will feature packaged
vegetarian-food producers under the theme For the Sake of Health and the
Environment.

The festival starts with a Colours of
Vegetarian Food cooking contest on August 26 afternoon, which will be
followed by an evening of performances to officially kick off the event.

Other activities include a presentation on the benefits
of vegetarianism and a forum on modern vegetarian trends by nutritional
and environmental experts who will guide guests on how to prepare
healthy, tasty vegetarian meals.

Guests can also show off their cooking skills in the Get in the Kitchen with Celebrities cooking show.

On the occasion of a Buddhist filial piety festival, which falls in the
seventh lunar month, the festival also celebrates mothers with a
concert and a flower-lantern evening to pray for parents' well-being.

Organised by the HCM City 's Association of Enterprises, the
festival aims to not only raise public awareness about the importance of
vegetarian food to a healthy environment, but also to encourage the
public to reduce meat consumption.

The raising of cattle,
for example, contributes to global climate change because of the large
volume of methane, a greenhouse gas, released by the animals. The
organisers said they expected to hold the festival on an annual basis./.

VietNam Travel

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Teen anime fans throng festival

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Thursday, February 10, 2011

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Friday, January 21, 2011

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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Phu My Hung Flower Festival

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Monday, January 17, 2011

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Sunday, January 16, 2011

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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

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