Ho Chi Minh City proposes to organize a diverse Vietnam - Japan Festival 2026 with strong Vietnamese maritime identity

On July 21, during a meeting with Mr. Takebe Tsutomu, Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc proposed to organize the Vietnam-Japan Festival in 2026 in the old Ba Ria - Vung Tau area - the newly merged area into the city. He also suggested choosing the theme of the sea to highlight the local cultural characteristics, contributing to diversifying the content and form of the festival, increasing its attractiveness to people and tourists.

Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc (right) received Mr. Takebe Tsutomu, Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance. (Photo: Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper)

At the reception, Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc highly appreciated Mr. Takebe Tsutomu's positive contributions in promoting the Vietnam - Japan relationship in general and Ho Chi Minh City - Japan in particular, notably accompanying the city to successfully organize previous Vietnam - Japan Festivals.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc said that after the city expanded its administrative boundaries by merging the two provinces of Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau , the Ho Chi Minh City government wished to continue to coordinate with Japan to organize the Vietnam - Japan Festival in 2026 in the old Ba Ria - Vung Tau area. He proposed that Japan study the idea of incorporating the theme of the sea - a prominent cultural feature of the region into the content of the festival's activities to enrich the form of expression and at the same time increase public appeal.

Colorful space at the 2024 Vietnam - Japan Festival in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: VOV)

In addition to cultural exchange activities, Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc expressed his hope that Japan will continue to pay attention to promoting cooperation in the field of education and human resource training between Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City. The city leaders affirmed their readiness to support and create conditions to expand high-quality educational programs, thereby contributing to deepening bilateral cooperation.

In response, Mr. Takebe Tsutomu expressed his gratitude for the companionship and support of the government and people of Ho Chi Minh City in organizing the Vietnam - Japan Festivals, and hoped to continue to receive the city's support for the 11th Festival, scheduled to take place in 2026.

Mr. Takebe highly appreciated the proposals of Ho Chi Minh City leaders on diversifying the content and form of the festival and said that he would study and seriously consider them with the organizers of the Japanese side. He also emphasized his confidence in Vietnam's young, high-quality human resources, expressing his desire to promote training cooperation programs to not only serve the economic development needs of the two countries but also contribute to the Asian region.

Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-de-xuat-to-chuc-le-hoi-viet-nhat-2026-da-dang-dam-ban-sac-bien-viet-nam-214996.html