Ho Chi Minh City Book Street: Awakening the potential of the night

Culturally rich destination

The first “Night Book and Culture Festival” was organized by Ho Chi Minh City Book Street in coordination with the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Committee of the City Party Committee, the Department of Culture and Information of Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnam Publishing Association, the People's Committee of Saigon Ward and related agencies. This is a pilot program to expand the model of reading culture activities and gradually form a nighttime cultural space to serve the people and tourists. From the pilot 3 weekends of each month, Ho Chi Minh City Book Street will move towards organizing it on the last 3 days of each week in the near future.

Children and their parents came to Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, excitedly participating in games at the "Night Book and Culture Festival"

In the immediate future, from 6pm to 10pm on November 21, 22 and 23, in addition to the programs of meeting, exchanging, discussing, and discussing books and culture in general, readers and people coming to Ho Chi Minh City Book Street will experience many attractive and interesting activities such as enjoying many kinds of traditional cakes, participating in folk games such as bamboo dancing, o an quan, making to he, making flowers from coconut leaves, climbing the um bridge, enjoying performances by cai luong and tuong artists...

Mr. Le Hoang, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, said that up to now, almost at 6 pm, Ho Chi Minh City Book Street has temporarily stopped operating, becoming deserted, with nothing to continue the activities of the day. "Night Book and Culture Festival" is to extend the activities of the Book Street, creating continuous energy from 9 am to 10 pm, so that this place continues to be a familiar place for readers all day long, for the people. Thereby, adding a space and time at night to the cultural life of Ho Chi Minh City, meeting the needs of both entertainment and weekend enjoyment of the people.

“In addition to the leading role of the Ho Chi Minh City Book Street and the units at the Book Street, we also invite many units in the form of socialization such as the Ho Chi Minh City Cultural and Exhibition Center, Tran Huu Trang Opera House, the Don Ca Do Day Band, Chat Viet Explorians Company, Magiskator Joint Stock Company, etc. We do not focus on business goals but let units and organizations have a space to introduce cultural products, or serve cultural life based on their dedication. From there, help the festival have richness and diversity in types and activities”, Mr. Le Hoang emphasized.

Common Opportunity

In addition to the main beneficiaries being readers and people, “Book and Night Culture Festival” also brings opportunities to many other units and organizations, such as publishing and distribution units with booths at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Loi, Director - Editor-in-Chief of Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House, shared: Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, entering its 10th year, has proven its effectiveness and success, which is rare for any book street to maintain its operation well during such a period. To operate the Book Street better, more effectively, and to leave a deeper impression, we should innovate. And, "Book Festival and Night Culture" is one of the activities that Ho Chi Minh City Book Street is striving to carry out towards that goal. We still need to wait for more time to evaluate the reception of readers, but for now, "Book Festival and Night Culture" has shown positive signs. For this activity to achieve long-term success, it requires joint efforts, from Ho Chi Minh City Book Street to publishing units. Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House in this period and in the coming time will have to make changes and adjustments, with the goal of becoming a friendly space, bringing many experiences to readers and people.

Meritorious Artist Tan Giao (from Tran Huu Trang Opera House) expressed his joy when Ho Chi Minh City Book Street had a "Night Book and Culture Festival". According to him, Tran Huu Trang Opera House is a place that is often lit up for connoisseurs, but from today, the city's opera has an additional performance space at Book Street, serving audiences as well as tourists .

Although the space is not as spacious as a theater, but everywhere is dedication. Artists perform with all their heart to serve the enjoyment needs of the audience. Then, the festival will be spread, people will know more about the program.

HO SON

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/duong-sach-tphcm-danh-thuc-tiem-nang-ve-dem-post825108.html