Ho Chi Minh City promotes arts and cultural activities at night

A performance of the kylin dance was held at Garden Mall in HCM City’s District 5 on July 23. VNS Photo Thu Hang

Nguyen Hue pedestrian street, one of the favourite destinations for locals, is regularly chosen to organise major cultural events, according to the department.

Street arts performances at Nguyen Hue were suspended since July in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

In an attempt to diversity arts and cultural activities at night, the District 5 People’s Committee last month launched the performance of kylin and dragon dance entitled “Ve Cho Lon xem mua lan” (Come to Big Market to watch kylin and dragon dance).

The show is organised from 5.30pm to 8pm every second weekend of the month.

Nguyen Vo Xuan Ky, deputy chairman of the District 5 People’s Committee, said with its rich traditional festivals, historic relics, iconic architecture and cultural identity, the district is one of the most favourite tourist magnets for locals and foreign visitors.

It hopes to make the performance of kylin and dragon dance become a unique traditional cultural event in the city, Ky said.

Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, director of the Department of Tourism, said the Dem huyen bi (Mystery Night) night tour would be launched in the future, offering unique experiences for tourists with a visit to the tunnels under Independence Palace, the Detention Area of Cho Quan Hospital and the Fine Arts Museum.

The tourism sector will focus on efforts to enhance the quality of tourism and travel products and services as well as invest in new products to attract domestic and foreign visitors, she said.

In the first seven months of the year, the city received more than 14 million visitor arrivals, including more than 700,000 foreign visitor arrivals, according to the department.

Tourism revenue was estimated at VND60 trillion (US$2.58 billion), up 57.8 per cent year-on-year.