TOKYO — A festival entitled Hello! Vietnam will take place at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo on September 18-19.
According to former Japanese senator Iwao Matsuda, co-chairman of the festival's organising board, the board set up a club of fans of the Vietnam Festival to attract participants in the event. People who want to join the club can register at www.vietnamfes.jp. The club now has about 1,000 members.
Vietnamese ambassador to Japan Nguyen Phu Binh said following the success of the first Hello! Vietnam in September 2008, which drew the participation of more than 150,000 people, including Crown Prince Naruhito, the festival was made an annual event.
The Hello! Vietnam festival this year will include performances by popular artists from both countries, including singers Ho Quynh Huong and Nam Cuong from Viet Nam, artists from Japanese Idoling, Gypsy Queen and Rap DG Samurai groups.
There will be 40 food stalls and 20 booths displaying Vietnamese special fine arts and handicraft products during the two-day event.
Other member countries of the ASEAN have also registered to showcase their products at 15 stalls at the festival.
The organising board expected the Hello! Vietnam 2010 will attract about 100,000 people.
Contest aims to boost China ties
Ha Noi — A contest about friendship between Viet Nam and China will be launched in both countries next month, said the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organisations.
The contest, held by the Viet Nam-China Friendship Association in collaboration with its Chinese counterpart, is to mark the 60th anniversary of Viet Nam-China diplomatic ties and the 2010 Viet Nam-China Friendship Year.
Contestants should visit the website http://www.vietpeace.gov.vn from September 2 to October 1 to answer 60 questions on the countries, people, political, economic, cultural activities and friendly relations between China and Viet Nam.
The competition aims to promote better understanding between the two countries' people. Winners will have a chance to visit China and Viet Nam.
Lotus flowers speak to photographer
HA NOI — A photo exhibition entitled Doi Sen (Lotus Life), featuring 65 photos by Tran Bich, is being held in Ha Noi.
Bich says he spent eight years wandering and taking photos but wasn't satisfied until he found the lotus. Now, he doesn't photograph anything else.
"Lotus flowers obsess me. They drive me to spend lots of time learning about them and taking pictures of them," he said. "The lotus has its own life and soul, like a person. When lotus flowers are blooming, or even withering, I feel they are fondling together, trying to say something."
Bich is also auctioning his photos to build a school for poor children in the northern province of Lai Chau with support of Ha Noi Association for Entrepreneur Women. Bich also hopes to sell 1,000 books of his photos to raise money for charity.
The exhibition runs through next Sunday at 93 Dinh Tien Hoang Street.
Urban area voted most beautiful
HA NOI — Phu My Hung urban area in HCM City has been voted as the most beautiful of the 10 most prominent public architectural works in Viet Nam.
The list of structures was carefully selected by the Viet Nam Association of Architects and nine of them were showcased on a TV show Khong Gian Dep (Beautiful Space) including Phu My Hung, Furama Resort in Da Nang city, Vinpearl Land in the coastal city of Nha Trang and the Daewoo Hotel in Ha Noi.
In a competition organised by Four Oranges, a subsidiary of Asia Leader International Investment, eight architects and 10 students were awarded for their remarks, opinions and comments on the structures.
The three month competition received 1,758 votes from architects and architectural students from across the country. — VNS