HCM CITY — A series of cultural activities were held at the HCM City Youth Cultural House yesterday to celebrate the common New Year festival of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar.

They were organised by the HCM City Buddhist Association, the city Union of Friendship Organisations (HUFO) and the cultural house, and attended by nearly 1,000 guests.

The four countries’ traditional New Year customs were re-created, including bathing a Buddha idol in water and wearing wish bracelets.

There was a performance of traditional music and dance from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, and an exhibition of photos featuring their landscapes and peoples.

Lê Hưng Quốc, HUFO director, said: “The celebration aimed to promote cultural exchanges between the city and neighbouring countries and help the city’s people know more about their New Year celebrations.”

As part of the celebrations, the city’s Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union had organised from April 5 to 9 several cultural events in which local students and their Lao and Cambodian counterparts studying in the city took part.

They attracted 300 local students and 72 foreigners, who also went on a field trip to Bảo Lộc city in the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) province of Lâm Đồng. 

On April 14 the Lao and Cambodian New Year will be celebrated at the Laotian Students Dormitory in District 3.

In Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar, the New Year is respectively called Bunpimay, Chol Chnam Thmay, Songkran, and Thingyan, and falls usually between April 13 and 15. — VNS