HCM City: The second Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2024 will take place from 31st May to 9th June, at Nha Rong-Khanh Hoi Wharf, Saigon Cruise Port, and other tourist venues, featuring a wide range of culture, cuisine, and entertainment activities, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported today.
This year’s festival is expected to turn the southern metropolis into a popular destination for waterway tourism. A signature show called ‘The Story of a River’, the highlight of the festival, will tell the story of historic boats associated with the locality.
The first river festival was held in 2023. More than 6,000 spectators took in five spectacular performances at the event, recreating cultural and economic activities, and lifestyles of river dwellers of Saigon – Cho Lon – Gia Dinh – Ho Chi Minh City about three centuries ago. This was the first time an art show had been performed on a stage built on the Saigon River with a diverse combination of performance technologies and a harmony of entertainment and historical
elements.
In a statement carried by VNA, Le Hai Yen, general director of this year’s festival, nearly 1,000 professional and amateur performers will participate in the event. The outdoor performance space at Nha Rong Wharf- Khanh Hoi – Saigon Port will be transformed into a large film studio, promising to wow spectators. The festival will tell modern historical stories about the special boats that used to come in and out of the Saigon River, associated with important milestones of the nation.
Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the Municipal Department of Tourism, said that the city’s tourism sector expects this year’s festival will continue to attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists, contributing to the growth of the sector in the time ahead.
Meanwhile, Da Nang has undertaken landscape planning on both sides of Han River, to improve local tourism development. The city will rebuild the area into an urban centre with administrative-political offices, a financial centre, and a gateway to riversid
e and coastal tourism. The area is also being upgraded to host both national and international conventions and conference centres.
The central city is implementing a nearly VND400 billion (US$15.7 million) project to light up the Han River with horizontal bridges. In 2024, the two banks of the Han River will be the venues for 55 periodic and annual cultural events and festivals organised by agencies, units and localities. The Han River, the “heart”of the city, is blowing fresh air into Da Nang tourism.
Source: Emirates News Agency