Top 10 culture, sports and tourism events in 2017

Nhan Dan Newspaper picks out Vietnam’s top ten cultural items, sports and tourism events in 2017.

A performance of 'Xoan' singing. Photo: HUU CHI

1. The promulgation of a Politburo resolution No. 08-NQ/TW on January 16, 2017 on developing tourism as a key economic sector

The document has a historic significance as it creates motivation for the robust development of the entire tourism sector.

The revised Law on Tourism was passed on June 19, 2017 during the third session of the 14th National Assembly with an aim to facilitate the development of tourism sector in the context of international integration process.

After that, a series of decisive documents on boosting tourism was promulgated, which have contributed to the record growth of Vietnam’s tourism sector in 2017 with a total of international visitors of 12.9 million, up nearly 30% as compared to 2016.

2. A national symposium on trends of literature and arts in Vietnam

A national symposium discussing current trends of literature and arts in Vietnam nowadays was held in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province in November, 2017.

The event, hosted by the Central Council for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Art, provided a forum for researchers, arts critics, and artists to exchange their talks on both positive and negative trends seen in Vietnam’s literature and arts, and make proposals and solutions to develop Vietnam’s literature and arts in the coming time.

3. UNESCO recognition of Vietnam’s Bai Choi singing and Xoan singing

UNESCO added Vietnam’s two folk music styles of ‘Bai choi’ and ‘Xoan’ to its representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during the 12th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Republic of Korea on December 7-8.

Of which, Xoan singing, a folk music genre in Vietnam’s northern midland province of Phu Tho, is the first heritage in the world to be removed from UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding and added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

UNESCO’s acknowledgement to the two heritages not only honours Vietnam’s unique culture, but also secures the country’s huge effort in preserving and promoting the country’s intangible cultural heritages.

4. Activities in celebration of 100th anniversary of Russia’s October Revolution

The 100th anniversary of Russia’s October Revolution was celebrated throughout Vietnam with a wide range of activities. Prominent among them were art programmes such as ‘Epic Song of October’ hosted by Nhan Dan Newspaper, ‘Ten Days Shaking the World’ hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and ‘An Echoed Epic of October Revolution’ hosted by the Voice of Vietnam.

The activities not only recounted the historic Russia’s October Revolution, the greatest revolution in the 20th century, but also illustrated the solidarity between Vietnam and Russia.

5. The 20th Vietnam Film Festival

The 20th Vietnam Film Festival was held successfully from November 24 to 28 in Da Nang city, demonstrating renovations and willingness to integration of Vietnam’s cinematography.

The film ‘Em Chua 18’, ‘Em Chua 18’ (Jailbait) by director Le Thanh Son won the Golden Lotus Award for the best feature film. The film earned a record revenue of VND170 billion (US$7.48 million), making it the highest-grossing Vietnamese movie to date.

Notably, the ASEAN Film Awards was included for the first time at the 2017 festival as an initiative from the Vietnam Cinema Department with the support from the ASEAN Film Fund and the ASEAN Secretariat. The launching of the Awards was enthusiastically applauded by ASEAN member countries as the awards marked the first step towards fully establishing the regional film industry.

6. Vietnam’s sports affirm its position at international arenas

The year 2017 saw great success for Vietnam’s sports in international areas with significant achievements. Vietnam ranked third overall at 29th SEA Games in Malays in August with a total of 58 golds, and ranked ninth out of 36 teams attending the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG 2017), in Turkmenistan in September with 13 golds.

Vietnamese disabled athletes earned 40 gold medals and set 10 records at the 2017 ASEAN Para Games in Malaysia in September.

There were also gold medals won by wrestling, track and field, athletics, archery, and chess teams at both world and Asian championships.

7. Six Vietnam’s football teams were selected to the final rounds of football championships of Asia in 2018 and 2019

With nine points, ranking second in Group C, Vietnam set a foot in the in the 2019 Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Asian Cup qualification, scheduled for UAE in early 2019.

Listed at top six best second-placed teams in the Group I’s final qualification, Vietnam booked the place at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championships, Asia’s biggest competition for young footballers.

U19 Vietnam has also qualified for the 2018 AFC U19 Championship finals in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese U16 squad officially secured a ticket to the final round of the Asian Football Confederation U16 Championship next year among the top four second-placed teams.

With four absolute wins in the qualification round, the Vietnamese women’s football team earned a solitary ticket to the final round of the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, scheduled to be held in Jordan from April 7 to 22.

Vietnam’s national futsal team also made it to the final round of the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Futsal Championship, to be held in Taiwan (China) from February 1-11.

8. The revival of Vietnam’s theatre

Vietnam’s theatre tasted a successful year in 2017 with the stage of many famous plays by Vietnam National Drama Theatre, including Kieu (The Tale of Kiều), Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and Molière’s The Miser.

Efforts have been made to to put on more high-quality performances and a number of PR campaigns by the theatre and actors, with the aim to renew public interest in Vietnam’s theatrical heritages.

9. Exhibition of Vietnamese silk paintings and products in US

An exhibition of Vietnamese silk paintings and products was held at the Oakland Asian Cultural Centre in San Francisco, USA in September, showcasing 40 silk paintings by 29 Vietnamese painters from different generations, and silk products from Vietnam’s longstanding silk villages, such as Van Phuc (Hanoi) and Tan Chau (An Giang province).

The ten-day exhibition was co-hosted by Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco as a highlighted event in the programme to promote the Vietnamese arts, culture and tourism, as well as its land and people, to international friends.

10. Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2017

Themed “Shining Marble Mountains”, the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2017 opened in April with the participation of eight teams from eight countries – Switzerland, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Austria and Vietnam.

For the first time, the event has become a two-month festival in order to attract more visitors to the city. Resultantly, the number of visitors to Da Nang has surged by 50% during the festival.

(Source: NDO)