Hanoi to enjoy first ever Singapore festival

By Pham Huyen   March 17, 2019 | 07:03 pm PT
Hanoi to enjoy first ever Singapore festival
The light art piece Rainbow Connection will be showcased in the Singapore festival in Hanoi. Photo courtesy of i Light Singapore
A festival celebrating Singaporean culture, including its vibrant art scene and culinary variety, will be held this weekend in Hanoi.

The Singapore Festival will be held March 23-24 at the Ly Thai To Park in central Hanoi.

It will feature images of Singapore’s famous landmarks, giving visitors the chance to take pictures against iconic destinations like Chinatown, Little India and Malaysian street Kampong Glam.

Art lovers will be treated to the Rainbow Connection, first showcased in Singapore at the i Light Singapore 2019 exhibition, considered Asia’s leading sustainable light art festival.

Describing Rainbow Connection, artist Yun, who crafted the installation, says: "The art piece is made up of 800 independent units of solar lights that are suspended to form prismatic projects on the floor. Every individual unit of solar light is actually upcycled from a snack container. The inspiration came from the connections between the people, nature and the arts..."

Another notable art experience will be the showing of Singaporean drama film 7 Letters directed by seven excellent directors from the country.

Top Singaporean artists and DJs will also present traditional songs and dance as well as modern music performances. Vietnamese pop singers Duc Phuc and Duong Edward will join them.

The festival will also introduce several fashion collections of designers from Design Orchard, a retail space for local fashion brands in Singapore. Another fashion activity will be the catwalk show of kebaya, traditional costume of the women of Peranakan, a word referring to descendants of Malaysian locals and Chinese immigrants to the Malay Archipelago in the past.

Families with young children are bound to have a great time at the Rubberband Land recreational area, where they can join a contest of assembling toys into miniatures of Singapore.

Visitors can also enjoy culinary specialties such as BBQ bak kwa, Nonya dishes cooked with Peranakan traditional recipes, black coffee served with kaya, coconut butter toast, and Singaporean milk tea.

Before the festival, Singapore Tourism Board will hold a buffet at a Hanoi hotel on March 22, serving special dishes from famous Singaporean restaurants. Chef Hawker Chan, who has received a Michelin star for his fried chicken rice, will join the event.

This festival is a great opportunity to expand cultural exchanges and tighten relations between the two countries, said Catherine Wong Siow Ping, Singaporean ambassador to Vietnam.

"Nearly 600,000 Vietnamese tourists visited Singapore in 2018, a 11 percent increase compared to 2017," said Sherleen Seah, Representative of Singapore Tourism Board Office in Vietnam. "We hope Singapore will always be a destination for every Vietnamese tourist to enjoy and understand themselves".

Entrance to the festival, held 12 p.m to 10 p.m on March 23 and 9 a.m to 10 p.m on March 24 at the Ly Thai To Park in downtown Hanoi, is free.

 
 
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