HCM CITY – Entertainment centres in HCM City offered new shows last weekend on the occasion of the International Day for Children (June 1).

Đầm Sen Tourist Park in District 9 offered a variety show, Mùa Hè Hạnh Phúc Cho Em (Happy Summer for Children), performed by singers, dancers and puppeteers from traditional art troupes. It premiered on Saturday and will be performed daily until mid-June.

The park’s annual festival, Fruits of Southern Region, opens on Wednesday, with hundreds of stalls displaying local fruits and vegetables and dishes.   

At the nine-day event, a cuisine party will offer many sweet cakes and soups at discounts of 40 per cent to attract children and parents.  

The Children’s Cultural House in District 1 will stage a circus and drama, Sen Hồng Cho Em (Pink Lotus for Children), on Tuesday, featuring music, dance, pantomime and circus tricks. The show is about national heroes to help young audiences learn about the country’s history.   

Many games, exhibitions, paintings and sports competitions will also be featured.  

More than 150 poor children from the city’s 24 districts will be invited to enjoy the two-day event.   

They will get gifts of toys and candies donated by local organisations. 

Two prestigious art troupes for children, the IDECAF Drama Troupe and Hồng Vân Drama Troupe, will stage new plays on the natural world and animals for children aged between five and 13.

IDECAF’s Bảo Tàng Quái Vật (Museum of Monsters), staged by actors Thành Lộc, Hữu Châu, Bạch Long and Đình Toàn, tells stories about dinosaurs and mammoths.

The play Câu Chuyện Về Chú Heo Con (Story of Little Pig), staged by young artists at Hồng Vân Theatre, highlights love and friendship.

These performances combine the traditional genres of circus and puppetry with modern music and dance.

The producers have invested in costumes and sound and light effects to dazzle young audiences.

The shows opened on Friday and will continue to be staged on June 1 and 2, and every weekend until July.

 "We will offer quality shows for children that have a cast of interesting characters as well as different theatrical styles," IDECAF stage director Đình Toàn said.

Meanwhile, cultural houses for children are set to hold contests in cooking, painting, story-telling, singing and dancing that will highlight topics like peace and love.

Several thousand toys and other gifts collected by charity organisations and individuals will be presented to disadvantaged children living in open houses and shelters in the city.

Volunteers from universities will visit and play with the kids.

The Workers Cultural House’s Ngày Hội Trẻ Em Khuyết Tật (Festival for Disadvantaged Children) attracted 700 students from primary schools for disabled children around the city yesterday.

The event offered free music and song performances and games.

“I enjoyed singing and dancing at the festival. I also made new friends. I hope to come back to the event next year,” Hoàng Như Quỳnh Hoa, who is in fourth grade at the Nguyễn Đình Chiểu School for Blind Children, said.-- VNS