HCM City (VNA) – Parks, cinemas and theatres in HCM City will be alive with festiviti▨es in celebration of the 71st anniversary of National Day on September 2.

A special music and song programme at Suoi Tien Tourist Park in District 9 will kick off the city-wide festivities this weekend. The three-day event, Hoa Binh Thinh Vuong (Peace and Prosperity), will open on August 2 night and include dozens of music and theatre performances. Shows include Su Tich Son Tinh-Thuy Tinh (God of Mountain and God of Water), a cai luong (reformed opera) play featuring Vietnamese legends. Cai luong stars such as Thanh Ngan and Que Tran will be featured. District 11’s Dam Sen Theme Park will open its circus theatre of 1,000 seats on September 2. A 15-minute firework display will also begin at 9pm on the same night. The theatre will stage Phi Chau Hoang Da (Wild Africa), a variety show with more than 150 circus, puppet, dance and theatre performers. A photo exhibition at the HCM City Photography Association on Suong Nguyet Anh Street opened on August 31, displaying 124 photos by 400 artists from 47 cities and provinces. The works portray the Vietnamese people during the country’s revolutionary process. The show will run through September 10. As in previous years, cinemas and theatres are now preparing for their business season, which will attract thousands of youth, including people from southern provinces on a three-day holiday. Hong Van Stage Club and Sen Viet, two leading private drama troupes, will stage a series of comedies every night from August 31 to September 10. The Vietnam Cai Luong Theatre will stage its latest play, Hung Dong (Breaking Dawn), a historical play on the life and career of revolutionary Phan Dang Luu under the French war. The theatre’s 50 actors will perform for two nights. Tickets are free at 75 Tran Nhan Ton Street, District 5. Three Vietnamese films will be released in cinemas this week to compete with foreign productions in the holiday. Nang (The Sun), directed by Dong Dang Giao; Gang Tay Do (Red Groves) and Saigon Anh Yeu Em (Saigon, I Love You) area about youth, love and life. Giao’s film features a disabled mother of a four- year-old daughter, played by famous comedian Thu Trang, who faces challenges taking care of her child. Meanwhile, the blockbuster Tam Cam- Chuyen Chua Ke (Tam and Cam-The Untold Story), continues to lure audiences, particularly children and teenagers, away from Hollywood and Korean films. The 90 minute-work, based on Tam Cam, a fairy tale best known as the Vietnamese version of Cinderella, includes sound and light effects. It earned more than 40 billion VND (nearly 2 million USD) after just two weeks of its release, according to the film’s distributor BHD. “I’m a fan of Hollywood films, but I will go to cinema to watch Vietnamese films this holiday,” said Nguyen Viet Hung, a resident of Bien Hoa City in Dong Nai Province.-VNA