HA NOI — Tens of thousands of youngsters from all over the country will join hands to celebrate Ha Noi's millennium with a series of larger-than-life shows, exhibitions and street processions today. Festivities kick off at 7am and will last until midnight. Simultaneous activities will take place in Ha Noi and 40 provinces and cities.
The day starts with offering flowers and incense at the statue of King Ly Thai To, who established Ha Noi as the capital 1,000 years ago.
Three thousand youngsters along with 65 international guests from 15 countries will dance and sing, as will students in universities, colleges and high schools all over the country.
The show will be followed by the beating of drums and playing of clarinets by 1,000 children from 9am at Ha Noi's Ly Thai To Garden and Municipal Children's Houses in Da Nang and HCM City.
In the meantime, 1,000 other children will paint a 100m-long picture entitled We Love Ha Noi.
Festivities culminate with street processions involving more than 10,000 youngsters.
The procession will set off from the square in front of the State Bank of Viet Nam and will take in August Revolution Square in front of the Opera House and streets around Hoan Kiem Lake.
Floats bearing slogans such as Civilisation, Heroism, Heart of the Country, Peace, Integration and Development, will lead different groups. There will also be performances by famous pop singers.
An exhibition of more than 600 pictures and historical items will take place next to Thien Quang Lake from today.
A giant collage has been made by children from Bac Ninh Province, where King Ly Thai To was born, and it will be on display next to the lake until Sunday.
The collage depicts the king and traditional cultural and folk activities such as swinging, wrestling, cock fighting, as well as images of famous monuments and pagodas.
International guests from 10 ASEAN countries, China, Japan and South Korea participated in a three-day ASEAN+3 Youth Festival that began on Wednesday at Thong Nhat Park.
The festival included a concert entitled Songs of Peace, an exhibition on "ASEAN Cultures with Ha Noi", a cruise along the Red River to Ly Kings Temple in Bac Ninh Province, and a forum on preserving and promoting traditional cultural values.
Youth delegations will also jointly sign messages of peace.
Students and pupils taking part in the celebrations have been given permission to take time off school.
"This is the biggest street festival ever in Ha Noi," said the Central Communist Youth Union, which organised the event. — VNS