A cultural festival featuring the ancient town of Hoi Anwill take place in Ho Chi Minh City for the first time from February 10 to celebrate 40 years of the establishment of the Society of Hoi An Fellow – Countrymen in HCMC.
Titled “Hoi An Day in Ho Chi Minh City 2012,” the 2-day event, which is organized by the Hoi An City’s People’s Committee in collaboration with the Hoi An Fellow – Countrymen in HCMC and the Alumni Association of Tran Quy Cap high school, is also to mark the school’s 60th year of establishment .
At the press conference on February 4, Nguyen Van Dung, Vice Chairman of Hoi An City’s People’s Committee, head of the event’s organizing board announced that the venue will be a simulation of a small Hoi An with the town’s architecture including pagodas and ancient houses.
According to him, the event aiming to promote the cultural values of the ancient city will also include exhibitions featuring historical photos, documents and objects related to the development process of the city.
A culinary program introducing the city’s specialties like “cao lau,” mi Quang,” “hen tron,” and “yen sao Cu Lao Cham” together with classes teaching calligraphy and pottery, as well as a music extravaganza will be held at the festival.
In addition, visitors can join in with many folk games including “bai choi”(Bingo-in-huts) and “breaking pots,” among others.
Also, Hoi An City’s authorities will have a meeting with around 100 businesses in HCMC on the last day of the event.
The organizers said they have given around 800 invitationsto Tran Quy Cap school’s alumni and Hoi An people living in HCMC and expect to welcome a larger amount of spectators to the event.
“I strongly believe that the Hoi An Day in HCMC will draw much attention from not only Hoi An people living in HCMC but also the residents from here,” Vo Phung, director of the Hoi An Center for Culture and Sport said at the conference.
“We will also make instruction boards, brochures and posters in English,considering that there will be a lot of foreigners coming to the event,” he added. “We will even offer some interpreters to make it easy for foreigners to follow the event.”
Asked about the event’s frequency, Nguyen Su, chairman of the Hoi An Town People's Council said the organizers will consider making Hoi An Day in Ho Chi Minh City an annual or biennial event depending on the result of this year’s event.
As the schedule, the “Hoi An Day in Ho Chi minh City” will be opened from 3:30pm on February 10 at Dong Ho Area at 16A Le Hong Phong Street in District 10.
Admission is free.
Nguyen Van Dung (C), Vice Chairman of Hoi An City’s People Committee answers local media’s question at the press conference on February 4 (Photo by: Ngoc Dong)
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