VietNam Life Style: millennium anniversary

Friday, September 24, 2010

Dragons to greet Hanoi for 1,000th birthday

A fireworks performance by Els Comediants

Music, acrobatics, dance, and spectacular fireworks by Spanish and Vietnamese artists will be on display October 2 to celebrate Hanoi’s millennium anniversary.

The Festival of Dragon show to be held at the My Dinh National Stadium will depict the legend of the city from a Spanish perspective.

Nineteen artists from Spain’s Els Comediants group and 18 artists from the Vietnam Circus will perform.

The show will start with a blue dragon waking up from a long slumber in the northeast of the country. It breaths fireballs into the sky and creates the islands in Ha Long Bay. The islands become green and more beautiful, waking up the gods, including the Fire God, who is considered to be closely connected with the lives of humans.

The festivities reach a climax with the gods deciding to seek out the other dragons, like the fire dragon, air dragon, and land dragon, to congratulate the dragon for the city’s millennium anniversary.

The centerpiece of the stage will be a giant dragon, 10 meters wide and 10 meters tall, whose eyes can move to express emotions.

The ideas and scenario of this program are built by Spanish artists from Els Comediants group.

The group is popular for its impressive performances, not only in Spain, but also all over the world. It performed at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992.

Nguyen van Tinh, head of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s International Cooperation Department, highlighted Spain’s goodwill for Vietnam and promised a successful festival.

This festival will be organized by the Spanish embassy o and the ministry. Admission will be free.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Hanoi ready for millennium anniversary in October

The 1,000th founding anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi will be marked by music and other cultural events from October 1 to 10

Photo: Tuoi Tre

A series of important works to dress up and decorate Hanoi is basically complete with just 30 days left until the millennium anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi takes place.

The capital city has to date completed 33 major projects, making Hanoi greener, cleaner and more beautiful, according to Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, Vice Chairwoman of the Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee and deputy head of the National Steering Committee on the anniversary.

Prominent among the completed works are the Hanoi Museum, the Saint Giong statue, the Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Ton Duc Thang statues, the Hoa Binh (Peace) park, the Hanoi-Amsterdam Gifted High School, Beltway 3, Thang Long boulevard, the giant embroidered picture entitled “Coi Xua” (Old Origins) and the ceramic road along the Red River.

Besides, following the UNESCO’s recognition of the 82 doctor laureate steles under the Le-Mac dynasties in Van Mieu (Temple of Literature), the Thang Long Imperial Citadel has been recently recognized as a world cultural heritage by the UNESCO, she said.
"They are invaluable presents on the threshold of the millennium anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi," said Hang.

The 10-day festival will bring together many politicians, cultural activists and scientists around the world as well as foreign visitors and overseas Vietnamese.

A solemn ceremony will open the festival in the morning of October 1 at the Ly Thai To Garden. The festival will include a meeting and parade on October 10 at the Ba Dinh Square.

As many as 38 foreign and 20 local art troupes have to date registered to perform during the festival, Hang said.

Thousands of antiques have been selected for exhibition, helping visitors understand the world cultural heritages in Hanoi, she added.

The city has almost completed works on decorating and lighting streets as well as attractive lighting systems around lakes and stadiums and on bridges spanning the Red River.

VietNam Life Style