Ao Dai Festival 2017 floats down onto Saigon pedestrian street

By Thanh Nguyen, Tan Nguyen   March 5, 2017 | 04:00 am PT
Female students wearing Vietnam's traditional long dress turned heads in the southern metropolis.

Over a thousand female students from Trung Vuong High School in Saigon wearing the traditional Vietnamese ao dai gathered for a parade on Nguyen Hue Street on Sunday morning. The event attracted crowds of local and foreign tourists.

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At around 7a.m. on Sunday morning, at least 3,000 people gathered on Nguyen Hue Street preparing for the ao dai parade, which featured a thousand female students forming the shape of Vietnam.

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Thao Phuong, a 10th-grader from Trung Vuong High School, has some makeup applied prior to the performance. "I'm very happy to be taking part in an event to honor Vietnam's ao da'," she said.

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The girls, dressed in ao dai and conical hats, danced to the song "Toi yeu Vietnam" (I love Vietnam). According to the event's organizers, the students had to practice for nearly a month to prepare for the event.

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Vietnamese singer Nguyen Phi Hung sang the song "Vietnam que huong toi" (Vietnam my homeland).

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Lai Van Sam, a popular TV host, helped send a welcoming message to international travelers.

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Long dresses and colorful conical hats created an impressive view on Nguyen Hue Street.

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The shape of Vietnam's national flag.

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More than 100 disadvantaged students riding bicycles performed at the "Lively Ao Dai" event.

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Miss Vietnam 2016 Do My Linh, an image ambassador of the Ao Dai Festival in 2017, also joined the parade.

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Miss Vietnam posed for photos with the students. The Ao Dai Festival 2017 was organized by Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Tourism and the Vietnam Women's Union, and will run for two weeks from March 3-17 with multiple activities on Nguyen Hue Street.

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