Quang Dung, Van Mai Huong come to Gia Lai with 'The Shining Forest'

Quang Dung, Van Mai Huong, Isaac, Kay Tran, AZA Light group, DJ Carrillo (Germany) and a team of international chefs will make the 2025 Quintessence of the Great Forest - Blue Sea Convergence festival explode in Gia Lai.

On August 26, the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee held a press conference to announce the 2025 Quintessence of the Great Forest - Blue Sea Festival with the theme "Aspiration for the Blue Sea - Shining Great Forest". This is a major cultural and tourism event to promote the image of the new Gia Lai after the merger of the two provinces of Binh Dinh and Gia Lai (old), and to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2.

Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee held a press conference to announce the festival "The Quintessence of the Great Forest - Convergence of the Blue Sea"

PHOTO: DUC NHAT

Connecting the great forest and the blue sea

The festival takes place from August 29 to September 2 with many large-scale cultural, artistic and culinary programs. The opening ceremony took place on the evening of August 29 at Nguyen Tat Thanh Square (Quy Nhon Ward), elaborately staged to recreate the connection between the two regions of East and West Gia Lai: cultural identity, economic potential, historical relics, tourist landscapes and typical products.

The program features many famous artists: singer Quang Dung, Van Mai Huong, Y Garia, Ngo Thai Bao, and art troupes from Gia Lai and Ho Chi Minh City. The combination of contemporary artists and folk artists promises to bring an emotional musical feast, spreading the message: "Promoting the strength of solidarity - Maintaining identity - Stepping forward to the future".

One of the most anticipated activities in Gia Lai this time is the program "Introducing the art of ocean tuna cuisine" taking place at the Children's Park (Quy Nhon Ward) from August 29 to September 1. Here, visitors will be served 5,000 free meals made from tuna.

Chef Tatsuhiko Itano (Japanese) shows off his tuna filleting skills in Quy Nhon in July 2024

PHOTO: HAI PHONG

Talented chefs from Ho Chi Minh City, Australia, Thailand, Japan and the Gia Lai Culinary Culture Association will demonstrate techniques for butchering, filleting tuna and preparing unique dishes, a fusion of Europe - Asia - Vietnam.

Among them, Australian chef Kim Bernard Chilcott introduced European-style grilled tuna steak; chef Nguyen Thi Thu Tam created a tuna dish with tomato sauce served with 6-meter-long bread made by Pham Dinh Tien; chef Le Nguyen Hoan Long transformed tuna porridge with macadamia nuts from the basalt plateau. Chef Puri Chunkajorn (Thailand) brought a spicy tuna curry; while chefs Nguyen Ngoc Duy (Vice President of the Gia Lai Culinary Culture Association), Jarai Food restaurant and Huong Xua pancake flour brand creatively combined dishes such as skewered ocean tuna with bamboo rice, tuna pancakes or rich tuna soup.

In the series of activities, there is also a fishing festival, this is one of the differences compared to previous years.

PHOTO: DUC NHAT

At the same time, the culinary festival "Delicious dishes from basalt land and sea" will open at 3:30 p.m. on August 29 with more than 90 booths from 33 participating units. Visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy Gia Lai specialty coffee with many variations such as salt coffee, pandan leaf coffee, coconut water coffee... This is also a place to display OCOP products, craft villages, and at the same time recreate the coffee - gong culture space typical of the Central Highlands.

In addition, the festival also has many attractive activities: the "Colors of the Sea" street festival with flower floats, mobile models, electric cars, bicycles combined with performances by artists and the community; the fishing festival imbued with fishermen's culture; traditional art programs such as hat boi, bai choi, traditional martial arts, gong performances, and traditional musical instruments.

The series of activities also includes a street festival performed by Bana and Jrai artisans.

PHOTO: DUC NHAT

"Light Party" for young people

In particular, the light festival with the theme "Great Forest - Blue Sea Reaching Out to Shine" took place on the evening of September 1 at Nguyen Tat Thanh Square. The event combines modern music, visuals, lighting effects and a performance by 500 drones, promising to be an explosive highlight for young people.

The first part of the program recreates the image of a prosperous fishing village, fishermen with a bumper catch of tuna, along with the Gia Lai wilderness landscape associated with the lives of ethnic minorities, the sound of gongs, and xoang dances. The second part is a grand music festival with many genres of music from rock, dance, electronic to lyrical ballads. Young artists Isaac, Kay Tran, the AZA Light group and international DJ Carrillo (Germany) will stir up the passionate atmosphere on the closing night.

Miss Vietnam Tourism Ambassador 2024 Dinh Thi Hoa speaks at the press conference

PHOTO: DUC NHAT

Miss Vietnam Tourism Ambassador 2024 Dinh Thi Hoa shared: "This is a valuable opportunity to join Gia Lai in spreading the good values ​​of the festival, promoting the unique tourism image to friends at home and abroad. I believe that the festival will not only be a cultural event but also an emotional journey, taking visitors from the clear blue waters of Ky Co - Eo Gio to the majestic beauty of the Twin Towers, then immersing themselves in the majestic K50 waterfall in the middle of the Central Highlands".

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/quang-dung-van-mai-huong-den-gia-lai-cung-dai-ngan-toa-sang-185250826163938136.htm