A giant art performance programme will be held during the Festival with images of the red flamboyant petals as an emblem of Hải Phòng. Photo thanhphohaiphong.gov.vn

HẢI PHÒNG — The northern port city of Hải Phòng this month will host the Red Flamboyant Festival 2025 – an annual event which this year is extra special, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the city's liberation (May 13, 1955 - May 13, 2025).

In this twelfth year, the Festival will held on May 13 in Thủy Nguyên City with theme Hải Phòng – 70 năm Niềm Tin và Khát Vọng Vươn Mình (Hải Phòng – 70 Years of Faith and Rise-up Aspiration). It expects to attract the participation of about 13,000 delegates, according to the organising board. 

It will include a series of activities featuring the city's cultural, historical and traditional development, with the aim of inspiring all to promote the spirit of solidarity, responsibility and innovation.                

At the same time, it will help promote the position of Hải Phòng as one of the three largest cities in Việt Nam, an important gateway and a driving force for development of the northern region and the whole country.

Hải Phòng will at the same time receive the title 'Heroic City' in recognition for the spirit of great unity through its 70-year journey of liberation, paying tribute to citizens' sacrifices and contributions in the struggle for national liberation, while affirming the determination of the city's Party Committee, authorities, army and people in the process of city construction.

A stage perspective of the Red Flamboyant Festival 2025 opening ceremony. Photo anhp.vn

Director of the city's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Trần Thị Hoàng Mai said: "Hải Phòng will welcome the Red Flamboyant Festival with a very special spirit, celebrating the 70th anniversary of liberation. Notably, on May 13, it will be honoured to receive the title of 'Heroic City'. This is an extremely noble title as Hải Phòng will be the second locality in the country, after HCM City, to be awarded this title by the President."

According to Mai, the celebration will take place from 8.10pm to 9.30pm on May 13, broadcast live on VTV1 channel and the National Digital Television Platform (VTV Go). It will be rebroadcast on Hải Phòng Television, and a number of local channels across the country.

Vietnamese traditional folk music on the streets during the Festival will offer chances for tourists to experience and understand more about the culture of the port city. Photo nhandan.vn

For the first time, firework displays will be held at six locations in the city, along with a mass parade, a series of art performances, street art programmes and international art shows, with the help of artists from China, Korea and Japan.

Of special interest a night-time art programme which will take place at the square in front of the Political – Administrative Centre, Thủy Nguyên City, the organising board said.

The Festival promises to impress audiences and visitors with outstanding images of Hải Phòng, a city proud of its beautiful and fascinating sea, rich in cultural identity and offering a hospitable welcome.

Looking to a more modern era, new tech will also be on show, with 3D mapping and lasers used with a full sound system set-up, used for the first time, along with a special lighting technology platform.

The show will include songs that have contents imbued with national identity and are closely associated with the city's development, including Thành phố Hoa Phượng Đỏ (Red Flamboyant City), Tiến về Thành Tô (Marching to the Tô Citadel) and Hải Phòng Cất Cánh Bay lên (Hải Phòng Takes Off).

Performers will include famous national singers and more than 1,000 artists from theatres, with art troupes from the city, including amateur artists and students from universities and high schools. VNS