Vietnam Fashion Fair 2012 scheduled for late December

Vietnam Fashion Fair 2012 will be held at the Giang Vo Exhibition Centre in Hanoi from December 20-26.

With a total of 400 stalls put up by nearly 200 businesses, visitors will see famous brand names in the fields of garment and textile, footwear, cosmetics, jewelry and beauty treatment.

There will be art performances and fashion shows, and an area for young designers to introduce their new fashion clothes and other products.

Nguyen Van Tan, Director of the Giang Vo Exhibition Centre, said the event is expected to contribute to developing Vietnam’s fashion industry and promoting the “Vietnamese use Vietnamese goods” campaign, as well as export business.

The fair, during the week between Christmas’s Eve and New Year’s Day, is sponsored by the Vietnam Exhibition and Fair Centre (VEFAC) in coordination with the Vietnam National Textile Garment Group (VINATEX), and the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (LEFASO).

Television titans channel hopes of festival success

A documentary from Nghe An Television entitled Forest Destruction is one of the leading competitors for the top prize in the documentary and reportage category at the 32nd National Television Festival, opening here tomorrow.

Produced by Hoang Quyen, the 14-minute video features Quyen's six-month effort to document illegal logging in central region forests.

"I'm still not satisfied with the work because we failed to shoot evidence of the alledged corruption of forest rangers," Quyen said.

The document will vie with the VTV video Lullaby, produced by Bui Hong Diep, which focuses on the significance of the lullaby in modern society.

"Lullabies are unforgettable memories in our lives, and I wonder how they have fallen into oblivion," said Diep, who is competing in the festival for the first time.

Works competing at this year's festival reflect national political, socio-economic and cultural achievements as well as such current issues as poverty, corruption, natural disasters and culture, according to the festival organising committee.

The festival will also award prizes in the categories of children, ethnic, science and educational programmes, talk shows, music shows, televised theatre and television series. Each category will be judged by separate jury panels.

Over 100 state-owned and private television networks and local broadcasters will participate in this year's festival with about 500 entries competing for prizes.

Seminars and a photo exhibition on the broadcasting profession will also take place as part of the festival. The seminars will be a chance for producers and other broadcasting professionals from around the country to discuss and exchange professional experiences as well as learn about new developments in technology.

The festival continues through Saturday, with the opening and closing ceremonies to be aired on VTV Channel 1.

Vietnamese architect scoops top gong

Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia has been awarded the Design Vanguard prize 2012 by Architectural Record – one of the leading information sources for architecture design, modern architecture, and green architecture in the US.

Nghia is among 10 top architects and architectural firms from Viet Nam, the US, Mexico, China, Japan, and Spain to receive this year's prize.

Founded in 2000, the annual Design Vanguard award brings together architects doing some of the most innovative work in the field. Vanguard architects are selected by a panel of professionals including critics and architecture deans.

In October, two works by Nghia – Stacking Green House in HCM City and a design for Binh Duong School – won top prizes at the World Architecture Festival.

Culture festival curries favour with India

As many as 15,000 citizens from the Indian coastal city Puducherry attended the opening of the fifth Viet Nam-India Cultural Festival on Sunday.

More than 20 art pieces were performed by Vietnamese and Indian artists, conveying themes from Viet Nam's land and people, to the late President Ho Chi Minh and the longstanding friendship with India.

Millions of Indian television viewers tuned in, and the festival was widely declared as a success.

The four-day event was jointly held by the India-Viet Nam and Viet Nam-India Friendship associations and the All-India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO).

AIPSO General Secretary Palap Sengupta said that the festival would actively help promote mutual understanding between the two peoples and strengthen the two countries' relationship.

The festival is an important event in marking the 2012 Viet Nam-India Friendship Year, the 40th anniversary of their diplomatic ties and the fifth anniversary of their strategic partnership.

New Year Countdown Party in Danang

A countdown party titled “I love Danang” will be held at 29/3 Square in the central city of Danang on December 31 to ring in the New Year, announced the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

There will be a huge LED TV screen for 15,000-20,000 revellers to enjoy music performances and laser displays from 09.00pm till midnight.   

The stage will be arranged by Vietnam’s leading professionals, including advisor Pham Hoang Nam, stage director Viet Tu, composer Vo Thien Thanh, and famous singers Thanh Lam, Phuong Thanh, Phuong Linh and Nguyen Vu, MC Tran Thanh, comedians Hoai Linh-Truong Giang, and well-known international DJs: Kim Lee-Katrina Nova and Phuong Pharreal.

The main sponsors of the event will include Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Joint Stock Company in co-ordination with B-Plus Communications Company Limited, in cooperation with the Danang municipal People’s Committee and Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Viet Nam strikes chord at choir comp

Viet Nam won four gold medals at the second Viet Nam International Choir Competition in Hue, which ended on Saturday night.

The choir of the Ha Noi Pedagogical University of Art won three gold in male, female and joint categories, while the Sol Art choir won a gold in the folk music category.

The Hue Music Conservatory choir won silver in the joint category.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Iriga Choir from the Philippines for their performance of Casting Out Evil Spirits, by Ruben Federizon.

Choirs from Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines also won gold and silver medals.

The event was co-organised by the Provincial People's Committee and the Germany's Interkultur – an organisation dedicated to bringing nations and cultures together in singing competitions. The five-day event gathered 17 choirs from nine countries.

The first competition was held in Hoi An last year.

VNN/VOV/VNS