A performance at the Hạ Long Carnival 2022. File Photo baoquangninh.vn

HẠ LONG — A series of special cultural and entertainment activities will take place at the Hạ Long Carnival 2023 festival Hạ Long City on May Day.

Tourists coming to Hạ Long Bay and the city will be dazzled by the colourful and bustling atmosphere of the carnival festival-themed Vũ Điệu Hạ Long - Hòa Nhịp Năm Châu (Hạ Long Dance – Harmony of Five Continents), a highlight of the Hạ Long Tourism Week 2023 held during the five-day Reunification Day and Labour Day holiday.

It will be the 15th year the event has been held, opening the summer tourism season in the city and other localities in the province, including various cultural, art, sport and tourism activities, according to Nguyễn Ngọc Sơn, Vice Chairman of the city municipal People’s Committee and deputy head of the organising board.

The carnival will start with a low-altitude fireworks display at 8pm on Võ Nguyên Giáp Street, which comprises four parts: an opening ceremony, stage performances, a street dance parade, and finally, the fireworks.

The organising board plans to invite famous singers, dance troupes, beauty queens, professional artists, folk artisans and nearly 2,000 performers to the event.

The carnival will be a story structured by historical, artistic, legendary, open and natural elements, reflecting that Hạ Long is a place where the best things converge, deserving to be the top destination in Asia.

The goal of the city is to popularise the images of Hạ Long Bay with a 29-year journey of being recognised by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage site and affirm the brand of Hạ Long Carnival 2023 - the destination of smiles and hospitability.

The carnival also aims at promoting Hạ Long as a safe and attractive destination.  

The heart of the carnival is joyous street parades with various colourful costumes and dances on wide streets along the coast. Modern sound and laser light technology combining a variety of special technical effects, will be applied to impress viewers. Water performance combined with a sparkling aerial firework show is an amazing party of light and colour which tourists shouldn’t miss at the festival. 

Carnival Hạ Long 2023 Street dances are expressed through dances representing ethnic groups in the country and worldwide.

During April 30-May 1 holiday, the city will organise many more programmes, such as the Trần Quốc Nghiễn Temple Festival, a modern dance festival, a kite flying festival, and other sports events.

In particular, besides the carnival, Hạ Long is also studying and developing a plan to introduce new tourism products to meet the demands of young people in their new entertainment trends.

Among them are tours to Bạch Đằng pedestrian street, Bài Thơ Mountain relic and Hải Thịnh Lake. The city provides tourism cruising services and holds sports and music activities on the bay. An exhibition site will be built to introduce geological-geomorphological values and check-in points in Hạ Long Bay.

In the coming time, Quảng Ninh Province will focus on researching and expanding tourism development space to the east and north of the city, restoring, embellishing, exploiting and promoting several monuments and cultural works, aiming to welcome 8.6 million visitors in 2023.

The city strives to offer at least one new tourism product or activity each month to attract tourists, toward serving 8.6 million holidaymakers this year. VNS