HCM CITY (VNS) — A cultural festival and a concert featuring music, dance and fashion shows teachers are among the events being held in HCM City to mark Teachers' Day, November 20.

The five-day festival begins today at the Youth Cultural House with more than 300 teachers and students from secondary schools taking part in games and sports.

A Thu Phap (calligraphy) contest will begin tomorrow, featuring students aged 7 to 15.

Music and song programmes and fashion shows by young performers, mostly from local universities and colleges, will be performed nightly.

The music concert titled Thay Va Tro (Teachers and Students) performed by artists of the city's Music Conservatory will be staged on November 19.

More than 50 veteran and young musicians will play famous works in jazz, rock symphony, flamenco acoustic music.

Music teacher Hoang Diep will conduct the orchestra, and the event will be aired on HTV9.

Among other events that will begin tomorrow at the Dam Sen Park is a music gala called Nhung Bong Hoa Dang Thay Co (Beautiful Flowers for Our Teachers), featuring songs and dances in praise of teachers.

At the Women's Cultural House, specialists in healthcare, beauty treatment, marriage and other family issues will be invited to address the attending teachers and families.

Meanwhile, educational authorities have called on the public to support poor teachers and give them gifts. They also will honour the outstanding achievements of young teachers who live in remote areas.

Flower and gift shops are expecting a surge in sales as this is a popular time for people to show their respect and affection for teachers.

Shopping malls and supermarkets have rolled out promotions, offering clothes, cosmetics and jewellery at massive discounts.

Online project

An online tribute to teachers set up last year, "Thay Co Oi!" (Dear Teacher!), is back to mark Teachers' Day 2014.

A brainchild of Le Hoang Thach, the marketing director in Viet Nam for an international contest to make short films within 48 hours, the event is expected to be more interesting this year and attract the participation of famous people.

To be uploaded on YouTube, it will feature a "90s story challenge" in which people can list three outstanding memories from their time in school, one happy, one sad, and one about impressive teachers before asking three others to do the same.

The project has so far received 11 clips, five of them from famous people like Kyo York, Khanh Binh, Mai Quoc Viet, Nguyen Phuong, and Truong The Vinh.

There will be a short film about education and teachers' competence, an outdoor event featuring exchanges between teachers, famous people, and young people, and a photo and painting exhibition.

Last year Thach and a group of 20 students set up Facebook page www.facebook.com/ThayCoOi and put up a photo collection and two clips on it to solicit "thanks" from young people for their teachers. — VNS