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Visitors attend the HCMC River Festival. (Photo: SGGP) |
The opening ceremony which was held at the Thu Ngu flagpole on Bach Dang Wharf in District 1 saw the presence of Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee Phan Van Mai, Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Ho Hai, and leaders of departments, Thu Duc City and districts.
The HCMC River Festival will take place on August 4-6 with a wide range of cultural, sports, and tourism activities, such as a boat race, a parade of boats on the Saigon River, performances of parachutes, flyboards, the art of light, and folk games in Saigon Port, Bach Dang Wharf Park, Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe canal, Binh Dong Pier and tourist attractions citywide.
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| A boat race on the Saigon River (Photo: SGGP) |
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The highlight of the festival is a special outdoor art performance titled “Saigon – a storytelling river” featuring the history, establishment, and development of the Saigon-Gia Dinh area and HCMC.
The event includes five parts, consisting of “Breaking new ground”, “Extending land borders”, “At the Wharf, on the Boat”, “The Pearl of the Far East” and “A brilliant city by the River", attracting more than 750 artists and dancers.
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| Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee Phan Van Mai speaks at the event. (Photo: SGGP) |
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee Phan Van Mai said that the founding of the Saigon-Gia Dinh area and HCMC for more than 300 years, and ports, street markets, craft villages, “Tren Ben Duoi Thuyen” (At the Wharf – On the Boat) services in floating markets along rivers and canals featuring an exciting and bustling atmosphere created an owned and unique identity of the land, a river city presenting a harmony between culture and economy, tradition and modernity, characteristics, and integration.
The “Tren Ben Duoi Thuyen” (At the Wharf - On the Boat) water lifestyle where people live and trade on boats is not only an activity contributing to the city’s economic development but also a valuable heritage that needs to be preserved and promoted, he emphasized.
The first HCMC River Festival 2023 is organized with the goal of preserving and promoting cultural and historical values, building typical products and events, and strengthening the exploitation of economic and tourism values from the city’s natural resources of sea and river towards building a brand of a riverside city which is rich in cultural identity as well as promoting trade and tourism to attract local people and visitors.
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| Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Ho Hai (R) and delegates attend the HCMC River Festival (Photo: SGGP) |
The Transport Department of HCMC announced that vehicles will be banned on some streets where the festival take place on August 4-6, including Hoang Sa, and a section on Truong Sa Street from Dien Bien Phu Bridge to Thi Nghe Bridge in District 1 and Binh Thanh from 8 am to 10 pm; Binh Dong Pier in District 8 from 8 am to 9 pm; a section on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street from Hoang Dieu Street to Khanh Hoi Bridge in District 4 from 5:30 pm to 8 pm; a section on Ton Duc Thang Street from Khanh Hoi Bridge to Ba Son Bridge in District 1 on 7:30 am to 11:30 am, 7 am to 7:40 pm on August 4-5 and 9 pm to 9:40 pm on August 6.
