The final round of the Festival was attended by Associate Professor Dr. Bui Hoai Son, Standing Member of the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture and Education; Luong Duc Thang, Deputy Director of the Department of Basic Culture (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism); Tran Thi Van Anh, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports; representatives from People’s Committees of Hoan Kiem, Cau Giay, Bac Tu Liem, and Tay Ho districts; leaders from various departments and units under Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports; representatives from Hanoi Musicians Association; representatives from Cultural-Information and Sports Centers of districts and towns; along with numerous music enthusiasts from the capital.
Tran Thi Van Anh, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, delivers the opening speech at the Festival’s final round.
The Mass Art Festival “Hanoi – Faith and Hope” 2024 was organized to promote and educate about the thousand-year history of civilization and heroism of Thang Long – Hanoi, along with the glorious revolutionary traditions of the Party Committee, government, armed forces, and citizens of the capital. The festival aims to inspire pride and unity in building and developing a civilized, modern capital rich in cultural heritage. It serves as an opportunity for localities to meet, exchange experiences, and learn from each other, while promoting traditional cultural values and creating diverse new cultural products that meet the public’s creative and recreational needs.
Through songs, dances, and festival drums, the love for Hanoi grows stronger
In her opening speech at the Festival’s final round, Tran Thi Van Anh, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports and Head of the Festival Organizing Committee, emphasized that the Festival is part of Hanoi’s series of events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Capital’s Liberation Day (October 10); celebrating the success of the 10th National Congress of the Vietnam Fatherland Front for the 2024-2029 term; and marking the 94th anniversary of the Vietnam United National Front’s founding (November 18, 1930 – November 18, 2024). The Festival also launches a series of activities for the 4th Hanoi Creative Design Festival, scheduled for November 2024.
After six months of active implementation at the grassroots level, 19 out of 30 units organized the Festival at the commune, ward, and town levels, including: Ung Hoa, Ba Dinh, Soc Son, Thanh Xuan, Chuong My, Dan Phuong, Hai Ba Trung, Quoc Oai, Gia Lam, Ha Dong, Me Linh, Long Bien, Cau Giay, Thuong Tin, My Duc, Hoang Mai, Son Tay town, Phu Xuyen, and Thanh Oai; 24 out of 30 units organized district-level festivals; and all 30 units participated in the city-level Festival.
The preliminary round of the Festival was held in the evenings from October 17 to 19, 2024, at the City Cultural Center’s outdoor stage, featuring nearly 4,000 performers from 30 district and town units. The Festival programs celebrated Vietnam – its land and people; praised heroic Hanoi – the City for Peace – the Creative City over its 70-year journey of liberation, construction, integration, and development, highlighting its major achievements, traditional cultural values, rich national identity, and modern cultural values. The Festival honored Hanoi’s citizens with their refined, elegant, and civilized qualities that have been distilled and crystallized throughout the thousand-year development of the capital.
Festival drum performance “National Festival Day” – Hoan Kiem district
Festival drum performance “Echoes of the National Spirit” – Thanh Oai district
Festival drum performance – Hoang Mai district
The Mass Art Festival has become a wholesome and meaningful platform for artistic exchange and learning experiences, helping improve organizational capabilities and program production skills from commune, ward, and town levels to district and city levels.
The Festival finals featured 12 mass art teams from 12 districts that achieved outstanding results in the city-level preliminary round. These teams are expected to continue delivering impressive performances with innovative and creative spirit, contributing to the joyful atmosphere celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Capital’s Liberation Day (October 10) and other commemorative events in 2024. We take pride in Hanoi – the City for Peace – the Creative City – the Heroic Capital – the Capital of Vietnamese conscience and dignity – the Capital of civilization, sophistication, and modernity.
Chorus “Hanoi Enters the New Millennium” – Bac Tu Liem district
Choir “Around Vietnam” – Thanh Tri district
Medley “Praising President Ho Chi Minh – Offering Spring Songs to Him – We Guard Your Sleep” – Ha Dong district
Chorus “Forever Twenty” – Ba Vi district
Through today’s songs, dances, and festival drums, we have grown to love our Hanoi even more and feel greater responsibility as we enter a new era, an era of national advancement.
Traditional Values Crystallized, Converged, and Shined on the Festival Stage
Evaluating the Festival’s artistic quality, Musician Nguyen Tien Manh, Vice President of Hanoi Musicians Association and Head of the Festival’s Jury, noted: Throughout the journey from preliminary to final rounds, the Jury has worked with utmost fairness in selecting outstanding performances for awards. During the evaluation process, the Jury observed that all district units strictly adhered to the themes and content requirements set by the Organizing Committee. The performances ranged from festival drums and flag dances to dance pieces and vocal works about the glorious Party, great Uncle Ho, love for homeland, country, Vietnamese people, and especially about Hanoi city.
Dance “Magical Strength” – Cau Giay district
Solo “Song of Hanoi” – Chuong My district
Solo “Hanoian” – Dong Anh district
Solo “Sacred and Elegant Hanoi” – Dan Phuong district
Erhu Solo “Tales of Harvest Season” – Tay Ho district
In terms of performance style, all 30 units displayed distinct characteristics with unique highlights. We witnessed a mass art space that incorporated professional elements, providing opportunities for artists to continue developing in a professional artistic environment. Many performances featured sophisticated program rhythms and musical arrangements, especially in dance and vocal pieces, along with traditional art forms such as Xam singing and ethnic instrument solos like the Erhu. Several units demonstrated creativity in their festival drum performances, flag dances combined with Lion and Dragon dances, and Muong gong performances, delivering beautiful artistic resonance. This showcased how traditional and modern values were crystallized, converged, and illuminated on the Festival stage.
Musician Nguyen Tien Manh, Vice President of Hanoi Musicians Association, evaluates the Festival’s artistic quality.
For optional performances, we witnessed various forms ranging from solos, duets, trios to choirs and choruses, with many units making highly professional investments. The presence of live orchestras on stage was particularly valuable. Professional arrangements and harmonization ensured both technical and artistic quality, as well as optimal sound support for dance pieces and vocal performances.
Additionally, Musician Nguyen Tien Manh pointed out some limitations for units to consider for future performances: the need for more cohesive thematic content selection, especially in musical flow to better engage audiences; some units’ insufficient attention to professional musical arrangements; and inappropriate mixing of traditional and modern costumes in some dance and festival drum performances.
Overall, all units brought precious musical gifts to the Festival stage for the capital’s music lovers.
Associate Professor Dr. Bui Hoai Son, Standing Member of the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture and Education, and Tran Thi Van Anh, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, present the First Prize.
The Organizing Committee presents Second Prizes.
Presenting Third Prizes
Presenting Encouragement Prizes
Presenting Grassroots Movement Prizes
Presenting Thematic Consolation Prizes
At the Festival’s conclusion, the Organizing Committee awarded 2 First Prizes (A prizes); 10 Second Prizes (B prizes); 10 Third Prizes (C prizes); and 8 Encouragement Prizes to programs achieving good results. The First Prizes were awarded to Tay Ho district and Thanh Tri district.
Additionally, 12 Grassroots Movement Prizes were awarded to units that successfully organized the Festival at grassroots levels.
The Committee presented Thematic Encouragement Prizes for: Effective Program Production to Cau Giay and Bac Tu Liem districts; Traditional Arts Preservation and Promotion: Xam singing performance “Proud of Thang Long Hanoi” – Lyrics by Tuyet Tuyet – Performed by Thanh Xuan district’s Traditional Arts Club; Xam singing “Lifelong Following the Party” – Performed by Ngoc Anh – Thach That district; Erhu solo “Tales of Harvest Season” – Composed by Thao Giang – Performed by Thu Giang – Tay Ho district; Outstanding Festival Drum Performance: Hoan Kiem and Hoang Mai districts; Creative Production: Dance piece “Street Carrying” – Choreographed by Hoang Hiep – Hai Ba Trung district./.
Thao Nhi