Cuba brings traditional music to northern audiences

Cuba’s traditional music band Los Tradicionales will offer northern audiences their performances after taking part in the Hue Festival 2010.

The performances are scheduled to take place at the Viet Bac Arts and Culture College in northern Thai Nguyen on June 14, the Hanoi Opera House in Hanoi on June 16 and the August Theatre in Haiphong on June 17.

Los Tradicionales, established in 1952, includes guitar, marimbula, requito-guitar, macaras, bongo players. The most famous artists in Cuba during 1960s and 1970s have performed in numerous countries in the world.

(Source: VNA)

Hue Festival - reclaimation journey programme draws thousands

Tens of thousands of people from Hue City and surrounding areas as well as tourists on June 10 joined a programme named “Hanh Trinh Mo Coi” which presents the nation’s journey to reclaim the lands in the south of the country from the 10th century to 1945.

The programme, staged by thousands of actors, actresses and musicians, was one of the main activities during the Hue Festival 2010 was dedicated to the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi capital city.

Based on the country’s reclaimation history, the programme included three parts, namely Dien tien mo coi (Land reclaimation process), Thong nhat non song (National unification) and Dat nuoc tron niem vui (The country with full joy).

The first two parts highlighted King Quang Trung’s selection of Hue as the capital city in 1788 and King Gia Long’s attempt on national unification in 1802.

Meanwhile, the third part described the country’s revolutionary process with the success of the August 1945 Revolution that led Vietnam to a new cultural era – the Era of Ho Chi Minh and the liberation of the southern region and national reunification on April 30, 1975,

The programme, supported by modern technologies, featured a variety of performing arts in combination with documentaries.

At the same time, an exhibition showcasing unique sculpture and painting works by Vietnamese-French artist Le Ba Dang opened in Hue City.

(Source: VNA)

Laos opens new air route to Vietnam

Lao Airlines will open a new air route from Pakse Airport, Champassack Province to Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City in October.

The Head of Marketing Division of the company Sitthideth Douangsith said on June 7 that the new service aims to meet the growing demand of buoyed by the rapid development of economic relationship between the two countries.

The Pakse international airport is being upgraded to enable it to receive Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 aircraft from this September.

(Source: VNA)

Spoil summer at Truoi Lake

From Hue City on National Highway 1A for about 30km and then onto a shade covered village road, Truoi Lake lies amidst magnificent mountains starting from the Bach Ma Range. The lake, located in Loc Hoa Commune, Phu Loc District, Thua Thien-Hue Province, is a frequent destination for tourists this summer.

The lake’s name is associated with the famous Truoi region in the central city of Hue including Truoi Mountain, Truoi River, Truoi Village and the Truoi people. The lake is a hydroelectric work built in 1996 and makes a strong impression with its crystal water and poetic surroundings. The lake has a 50m embankment and a capacity of 60 million cubic meters of water.

Upon reaching the wharf which is about 100m from the embankment, tourists hire a 15-20 seat boat to start the excursion and ask the boatman to be the tour guide. These tours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and tourists pay VND200,000-250,000 per boat.

As the surroundings wind along Bach Ma Mountain, tourists can admire splendid sceneries. After 30 minutes on the boat, tourists may get hypnotized by the fascinating wilderness with the murmur of streams ahead and the hundreds of rocks emerging out of them. Here, tourists can take a bath, sit on the rocks and fish or stroll around to discover nature. Daily worries and stresses will surely drift away with the flowing water.

Visitors should bring some food for the picnic and then catch fish and have lunch together. After a meal, tourists can explore the forest at the foot of Thanh Long Mountain to enjoy the wildlife. This forest is home to many species of seasoned trees and wild animals.

On the way back to the wharf, tourists should not miss Truc Lam Bach Ma Pagoda nestled at the foot of Linh Son Mountain to contemplate its elegant architecture as well as to find tranquility for the soul. Tourists must first conquer 172 stone steps to reach the pagoda but the panoramic view of Truoi Lake is worth the sweat. The pagoda was built in 2006 on an area of 1.9ha on top of a lovely hill.

(Source: SGT)

Hanoi, China’s Chengdu increase tourism cooperation

A memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation between Hanoi and Chengdu City of China’s Sichuan Province was signed in the capital city on June 9.

The document encourages cooperation and exchanges between travel agents of the two cities. Accordingly, the two sides will build, develop, promote and popularise their tourism products and tours, link official tourism websites to share information and tap the potential of tourism resources.

According to Deputy Chairwoman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, the expanded Hanoi has nearly 1,300 trade villages, including 285 traditional craft villages, providing a favourable condition for both cities’ cooperation.

A representative of Chengdu Municipal People’s Government said Sichuan is the largest province in China with 88 million people, of whom 13 million are living in the city, with an annual per-capita income of more than USD5,000. The city is focusing on tourism, trade and economy development.

Hanoi plans to join an exhibition in Chengdu city this year as the beginning of the cooperation programme.

(Source: VNA)

British Council helps improve festival management

A training course on festival management and organisation, the second of its kind organised by the British Council in Vietnam, will be held in the ancient imperial city of Hue from June 10-13.

The course is designed for festival organisers, cultural administrator and artists from potential provinces and cities such as Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh cities and Quang Nam, Danang and Binh Thuan provinces.


Trainees and art experts from the UK and Indonesia will discuss how to prepare and organise an art festival and the development trend of contemporary art festival.

The course is part of a project on training art festival management and organisation skills carried out by the British Council and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism from 2010 to 2012. It aims to increase art management skills for Vietnamese partners, promote cultural exchange, paving the way for cooperation programmes on festival organisation between the two countries.

The project includes training courses on managing and organising festivals and cultural events to introduce the English and Vietnamese contemporary arts to the public.

The first course was held in Hanoi in March, 2010 with the participation of 25 Vietnamese cultural and festival organisers and administrators.

(Source: VNA)

Phuong Nam Cultural Center opens in Hue

The first Phuong Nam Cultural Center opened at 15 Le Loi Street in Hue on June 4. The 1,500m² complex is for entertainment, shopping and displaying traditional handicraft products of Hue’s trade villages.

100m² of the center sells books, magazines and compact discs for visitors to understand the country and its people, history and scenic spots.

Along the Huong River is a cafeteria for visitors to relax and meet local celebrities through friendly discussions regularly organized by Phuong Nam Cultural Corp.

On the opening day there was an exhibition of videos by Vietnamese artists telling about the spiritual life and cultural consciousness of Vietnamese people, over twenty paintings by Hue artists and sculptures of the K’tu ethnic minority and Hue artists.

On June 5 a seminar called Keeping the Soul of the Ancient Capital in Modern Times was held by researcher Nguyen Huu Thong and Hue craftsmen to help visitors understand Hue’s traditional trade villages and the methods to keep them valuable.

A poetry recital was held last night to introduce the book “A Thousand Contemporary Poets of Hue.” The first and second volumes were introduced to the public at the Hue Festival in 2006 and 2008 and the third will be published this month to mark the Hue Festival 2010.

(Source: SGT)