HCM CITY — Parks, cinemas and theatres in HCM City will be alive with festivities in celebration of the 71st anniversary of National Day on September 2.

A special music and song programme at Suối Tiên Tourist Park in District 9 will kick off the city-wide festivities this weekend.

The three-day event, Hòa Bình Thịnh Vượng (Peace and Prosperity), will open tomorrow night and include dozens of music and theatre performances.

Shows include Sự Tích Sơn Tinh-Thủy Tinh (God of Mountain and God of Water), a cải lương (reformed opera) play featuring Vietnamese legends. Cải lương stars such as Thanh Ngân and Quế Trân will be featured.

District 11’s Đầm Sen Theme Park will open its circus theatre of 1,000 seats tomorrow .

A 15-minute firework display will also begin at 9pm on the same night.

The theatre will stage Phi Châu Hoanh Dã (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 Sương Nguyệt Ánh Street opened yesterday, 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.

Hồng Vân Stage Club and Sen Việt, two leading private drama troupes, will stage a series of comedies every night from August 31 to September 10.

The Việt Nam Cải Lương Theatre will stage its latest play, Hừng Đông (Breaking Dawn), a historical play on the life and career of revolutionary Phan Đăng Lưu under the French war. 

The theatre’s 50 actors will perform for two nights. Tickets are free at 75 Trần Nhân Tôn Street, District 5.  

Three Vietnamese films will be released in cinemas this week to compete with foreign productions in the holiday.

Nắng (The Sun), directed by Đồng Đăng Giaom; Găng Tay Đỏ (Red Groves) and Sài Gòn Anh Yêu Em (Sài Gòn, 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 Tấm Cám- Chuyện Chưa Kể (Tấm and Cám-The Untold Story), continues to lure audiences, particularly children and teenagers, away from Hollywood and Korean films.  

The 90 minute- work, based on Tấm Cám, a fairy tale best known as the Vietnamese version of Cinderella, includes sound and light effects.  

It earned more than VNĐ40 billion (nearly US$2 million) 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 Nguyễn Việt Hùng, a resident of Biên Hòa City in Đồng Nai Province. — VNS