Excited about the grand ceremony

Brilliant historical April days

The state-level preliminary rehearsal for the parade - an important activity in a series of events leading up to the 50th anniversary of the country's reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025) - took place on the evening of April 25, leaving extremely special emotions for the people of Ho Chi Minh City. Although it was the third rehearsal, this was the first time the parade and marching group under the grandstand filled the empty seats and passed through the streets among tens of thousands of people with colorful flags and flowers, enthusiastically welcoming them. The special feature of this parade was the participation of the armies of Laos, Cambodia and China. The countries participating in the April 30th parade were invited by the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense.

Image of the parade rehearsal on Le Duan Street on the evening of April 25

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

Despite the heat of the hottest, driest days in Ho Chi Minh City, tens of thousands of people showed up 5-6 hours before the screening, filling the streets around the Independence Palace.

The central area of ​​Ho Chi Minh City really turned into a "fire pan", not only because of the heat of the weather but also because of the bright red flags of everyone. T-shirts and conical hats printed with the red flag with yellow star; hand-held flags fluttering in the wind; bright light sticks; boys and girls drawing the flag on their cheeks and foreheads... the rehearsal took place in an atmosphere full of pride and emotion.

Not only young people are excited to attend the "national concert" that has been "buzzing" on social networking sites for the past few weeks, many uncles, aunts, grandparents, and children still in elementary school also did not hesitate to show up very early, squeezing through the crowded crowd to witness these extremely special moments with their own eyes.

Image of the parade rehearsal on Le Duan Street on the evening of April 25

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

Graphics: Tuan Anh

Present at the Notre Dame Cathedral area on the afternoon of April 25, many people were impressed by an old woman in her 80s, sitting in a wheelchair, wearing a bright red outfit, with a conical hat printed with the red flag with a yellow star on her head. Pushing the wheelchair for her was a relative also wearing a uniform T-shirt printed with the national flag. The old woman's name is Pham Thi Thuan, 83 years old, just came from Thanh Hoa to Ho Chi Minh City to celebrate the 30/4 holiday with her children and grandchildren. As a former youth volunteer during the anti-American resistance war, Ms. Thuan was very much looking forward to watching the parade. Despite the hot weather and the crowd, Ms. Thuan was still very happy, healthy, and excitedly waiting for the moment to witness the soldiers and military personnel participating in the training.

"There are many young people here. I am very happy to see that you are also looking forward to and looking towards the history of the nation to be proud like our generation," Ms. Pham Thi Thuan shared.

Similarly, Ms. NNThao (living in Thu Duc City) is nearly 60 years old but is still excited to plan to go see the preliminary rehearsal. Although she knows it will be hot, crowded, and will have to jostle, all those difficulties cannot stop Ms. Thao's excitement for the unprecedented parade in history. "It only happens once every 50 years, what's the big deal about a little heat? Who knows when we will witness such a big event again," Ms. NNThao said.

Image of the parade rehearsal on Le Duan Street on the evening of April 25

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

At around 6:45 p.m., heavy rain poured down on the center of Ho Chi Minh City, but it did not "cool down" the spirit of everyone. On the contrary, the image of thousands of people from the elderly to children standing in the rain watching every step of the parade created extremely emotional moments.

Soaked in the clothes, dirty face but still holding the national flag firmly in his hand, Hoang Bao An (11 years old, living in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City) wiped the rain off his face and said: "The soldiers standing in the rain can't even cover themselves with their hands like me, they wear thicker clothes than me, and they can't wear sandals like me, so their shoes must be soaked with water. But if they can still parade, then I have to watch too. I've never experienced an atmosphere like this before. My mother told me to go watch the preliminary rehearsal because she was afraid she wouldn't be able to wake up early on the morning of April 30, but I'll wake up early again. The official holiday will definitely be much better."

Bustling about the city named after Uncle Ho

Not only the city's residents, but also tourists from all over the country have begun to move to the city named after Uncle Ho to prepare to attend the grand ceremony.

Having just landed from Tuy Hoa to Ho Chi Minh City late yesterday afternoon (April 26), Ms. Tran My Yen (from Phu Yen) had an appointment with the "Association of Phu Yen Children in Saigon" to make detailed plans for the big days. This trip was prepared by Ms. Yen more than a month ago, when the parade rehearsals officially began. Having studied and worked in Ho Chi Minh City for about 5 years, but since returning to her hometown of Phu Yen to start a business, it has been nearly 6 years, Ms. Yen has not returned to the city.

Ho Chi Minh City fireworks display, drone display, 3D Mapping on the evening of April 26

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

"From yesterday until now, everywhere we go, there are colorful flags and flowers. The restaurants, eateries, and cafes where we went were decorated with flags and flowers and had promotional programs to celebrate the great festival. The streets were still crowded but I could clearly feel the heroic and exciting atmosphere everywhere. This return was really impressive to me," Ms. My Yen shared.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, in recent days, the number of visitors to the city has begun to increase sharply. The city currently has more than 3,200 accommodation establishments serving tourists, including more than 130 hotels from 1 to 5 stars with about 55,000 rooms. Currently, hotels in District 1, District 4, Ben Nha Rong area - where performing arts activities, parades, fireworks, light festivals, cuisine, etc. are concentrated - have reached room occupancy rates of up to 95 - 100%. The city's tourism industry expects that during the April 30 holiday, there will be about 1.2 - 1.4 million visitors to Ho Chi Minh City. The Department of Tourism has been and is continuing to coordinate with districts to update accommodation addresses for visitors. Room occupancy rates in Ho Chi Minh City are still high, ensuring that visitors can come to the city to have fun and relax during the peak holiday of April 30.

Demonstration of 3D Mapping technology at the headquarters of the People's Council - People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City

PHOTO: PHAM HUU

Saigontourist Group is the unit assigned to take charge of logistics before, during and after the ceremony, preparing more than 800 high-quality rooms at 4-5 star hotels. These hotels are designed and decorated to become solemn locations for the reception program, expressing gratitude to the city's sentiments along with after-sales services, menus including delicious dishes from three regions. This unit also built many meaningful tour programs to welcome and serve delegates from all over the country, including a tour to visit the Sac Forest resistance base (Can Gio District), visit the ancient battlefield of Cu Chi tunnels and a tour to experience the modern Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro line 1 and historical sites and relics in Ho Chi Minh City...

The "grand feast" that Ho Chi Minh City treats all residents and visitors to the occasion of the great festival has many unique cultural and historical activities such as: light shows, symphony - choir performances, amateur music... at Nguyen Hue walking street, Ben Bach Dang park area (from Ba Son bridge to Ben Nha Rong); street art performances such as circus, magic, opera, martial arts, trumpet music, flower boats on the Saigon River; cruise ship parade, amateur music on the Saigon River, water sports programs, sailing performances, jet-powered flying performances, flyboarding and paragliding... On the evening of April 30, from 9 - 9:15 pm, Ho Chi Minh City will fire fireworks at 30 locations (2 high-altitude locations and 28 low-altitude locations) in districts, towns, and Thu Duc City.

The heroic and exciting atmosphere is filling Ho Chi Minh City as well as the whole country. Everyone is looking forward to the 30.4 celebration - a historical milestone to pay tribute to the past and look forward to the future of the nation.

Mobilizing armored vehicles to protect Tan Son Nhat airport

During the peak period of April 30 - May 1, airports will apply level 1 aviation security control. As the airport with the highest number of flights serving the country, Tan Son Nhat Airport is one of the "hot spots" that authorities pay special attention to in terms of ensuring security and safety.

In addition to increasing human resources, armored vehicles have been mobilized and are now present at Tan Son Nhat airport. According to the Immigration Department (Ministry of Public Security), specialized vehicles such as armored vehicles are mobilized as part of the plan to apply level 1 enhanced aviation security control measures at airports, airfields... during the April 30 - May 1 holiday. The application period is from April 26 (Saturday) to May 4 (Sunday). During the application of level 1 enhanced aviation security control measures, aviation security forces will implement a number of additional measures such as: increasing the frequency of patrolling public areas, increasing control of entry/exit to restricted areas, increasing screening of passengers...

Flights are fully booked, ticket prices are sky-high

According to information from the Civil Aviation Authority, at Tan Son Nhat International Airport during the April 30 - May 1 holiday, the number of domestic flights landing and taking off on the peak day is expected to be 520 (an increase of 35% compared to the same period in 2024), serving 95,000 passengers (an increase of 35% compared to the same period in 2024). Tan Son Nhat Airport has planned to increase the "slot" to 46 flights/hour from 6am to 11pm, 36 flights/hour from 0am to 5am during this peak period.

Preliminary survey shows that up to now, many domestic flights, despite high ticket prices, are always fully booked or have very few seats left. Airfares are "hot", on the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route, Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet's ticket prices range from 3.6 - 3.7 million VND/way for economy class. Bamboo Airways has prices ranging from 2.5 - 3.4 million VND/way.

More metro trips, free bus tickets

In order to meet the high travel demand during the holiday, the Ho Chi Minh City transport sector has implemented many synchronous solutions: Bus stations are required to increase more than 6,680 trips, and at the same time issue 600 additional vehicle badges for routes with high demand; The Public Transport Management Center adjusts the metro train schedule during the holiday and plans to increase the frequency of operations from 200 to 240 trips/day, with an interval of 8 - 10 - 12 minutes/trip (depending on peak, normal and off-peak hours) with 9 trains operating to serve about 120,000 passengers/day.

The center also adjusted bus routes connecting Tan Son Nhat airport, such as route 109, increasing from 42 to 110 trips per day to serve tourists coming to Ho Chi Minh City during the holiday. In particular, 133 bus routes, including those operating within the city and inter-provincial routes, will be free of charge for passengers traveling on April 30, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of national reunification.

Where to park to see events in downtown Ho Chi Minh City?

Many parking spots are located within a radius of about 1 km from the rehearsal area, making it convenient for people to walk to the parade and marching locations. Some suggested parking spots:

- City Youth Cultural House (33 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, District 1).

- Cao Thang Technical College (65 Huynh Thuc Khang, District 1).

- Hoa Lu Sports Center (2 Dinh Tien Hoang, District 1).

- Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden (2 Nguyen Binh Khiem, District 1).

- Tao Dan Park (Truong Dinh Street, District 1).

- September 23 Park (Pham Ngu Lao Street, District 1).

- Vincom Center Dong Khoi (72 Le Thanh Ton, District 1): Modern parking garage, near the event center.

- Takashimaya - Saigon Center (65 Le Loi, District 1).

- Diamond Plaza (34 Le Duan, District 1).

- Saigon Center (65 Le Loi, District 1).

- Behind the City Theater (7-9 Lam Son, District 1).

- Turtle Lake parking lot (District 3).

People traveling from Thu Duc City can park their motorbikes at metro stations such as Thu Duc, Rach Chiec, Long Binh or Thao Dien, then travel by metro to Van Thanh and Tan Cang stations. Then, walk to the locations where large screens are installed or stand outside the restricted areas to watch.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/no-nuc-huong-ve-dai-le-18525042623360236.htm