HCM CITY (VNS) — Entertainment centres in HCM City have offered new shows this week on the occasion of International Day for Children (June 1).

At District 9's Dam Sen Tourist Park, traditional art troupes will organise the variety show Summer for Children with singers, dancers and puppeteers. It will open on Friday and perform daily until mid-June.

The park's annual festival Cuisine of Southern Region 2014 will open tonight, featuring hundreds of stalls displaying traditional fruits and vegetables, and dishes cooked by artisans.

The 23-9 Park Circus Theatre in District 1 will offer a circus and drama show, Co Tich Cho Em (Legend for Children), featuring music, dance, pantomine and circus tricks. The show is about children on a magical adventure that helps them learn about people and animals.

More than 350 poor students from 24 districts around the city will participate in the event Tet Cho Em (Festival for You), organised by the Khan Quang Do (Red Scarf) newspaper in co-operation with its partners, Tan Binh District's Youth Union.

Many games, music and song shows, exhibitions, paintings and sport competitions will be featured.

The organisers will present toys and candy donated by local organisations to children.

The event will begin on May 30 at Hoang Van Thu Park in Tan Binh District.

Two prestigious art troupes for children, the HCM City Circus Troupe and Puppet Troupe, will perform new plays based on traditional legends, including Tran Quoc Toan (Young Hero Tran Quoc Toan) and Thach Sanh Chem Chan (Young Hero Thach Sanh Kills the Beast).

These special performances will combine the traditional genres of circus and puppetry as well as modern music and dance. The producers have invested in theatre costumes and sound and light effects to dazzle young audiences.

The shows will open on May 30 and will continue to be staged every weekend until mid-June.

"We will offer quality shows for children that have a cast of interesting characters, as well as different theatrical styles," said stage director Nguyen Tan Loc of the HCM City Puppet Troupe.

Loc's staff includes famous comic actors Dai Nghia and Dinh Toan.

Meanwhile, cultural houses for children are launching contests in cooking, painting, story-telling, singing and dancing. Topics on peace and love will be highlighted.

Several thousand gifts and toys collected by charity organisations and individuals will be given to disadvantaged children living in open houses and shelters around the city on the special day. Volunteers from universities will visit and play with the kids.

Supermarkets and hotels have invited young singers such as Miu Le, Noo Phuoc Thinh and Minh Hang to attend their celebrations. Promotions have been offered to attract children and their parents.

Spratlys' theme for kids' festival

A large map of Viet Nam will be displayed at a children's festival in Ha Noi on Saturday so that they and other visitors can write or draw on it to express their feelings to those defending the country's sovereignty.

After the event, the embellished map will be sent to the Truong Sa Islands (Spratlys).

The festival, part of International Children's Day, will feature a wide range of entertainment and education activities.

It will also feature a display of more than 100 paintings by children.

In conjunction with the National Museum of History, the organising board will hold a series of I Love History programmes where children can play and learn about the past.

The themes will be about patriotism and defence.

There will be plenty of music, dance and even a circus - and an aerobics competition will be held for children aged five to nine.

The festival will be held at the Viet Nam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts, 2 Hoa Lu Street, Ha Noi. — VNS