Official conference for Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2024
On the afternoon of May 8, 2024, the official press conference for the 2nd Ho Chi Minh City River Festival was held on the Saigon Princess boat. The festival will take place from May 31 to June 9 and will feature a series of cultural, entertainment, artistic, culinary, and sports activities along the Saigon River.
The highlight of the festival is the “Legendary Journey” performance, a modern dance and music show combined with advanced technology, telling the heroic story of the nation. It will be vividly brought to life on the Saigon River, featuring about 1,000 professional and amateur performers.
The Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2024 is taking place right after the Vietnam Banh Mi Festival 2024 in May, as an act of boosting tourism of the city.
For the first time, the festival will include a fireworks display over the Saigon River, a recreation of the Mekong Delta floating market, an open water swimming race, a stand-up paddleboard championship, jet ski performances, and river-themed tourism activities under the “Legendary Journey” theme.
Additionally, there will be activities from the first festival such as river parades, waterfront spaces, a fruit week, cultural and artistic spaces, traditional games, culinary competitions, artistic light decorations, tourism promotion programs, shopping promotions, and discounted tickets for various shows.
17 festival activities hosted
The festival includes 17 main activities happening at various locations: Khánh Hội House of Dragons – Saigon Port, Bạch Đằng Wharf Park, Saigon River Park, Nhiêu Lộc – Thị Nghè Canal, Ngôi Sao Việt Wharf (District 7), Bình Đông Wharf (District 8), Suối Tiên Cultural Tourist Area, and other tourist spots across Thu Duc City and other districts of Ho Chi Minh City.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for 8:00 PM on May 31, 2024, at Khánh Hội House of Dragons – Saigon Port. After that, there will be many exciting activities like water sports programs, exhibitions, parades, product displays, artistic decorations, promotional programs for discounted tickets to artistic performances, culinary competitions, and more. These activities will run continuously until June 9, 2024.
The floating market space at Nhiêu Lộc – Thị Nghè Canal will be from June 1 to June 9. This area will recreate the lively activities of a Mekong Delta floating market, where visitors can shop for fruits and enjoy traditional performances.
The fruit week along Bình Đông Wharf, District 8, will take place from June 4 to June 10. There will be stalls displaying and selling fruits from Western garden houses, along with traditional art performances.
The river parade will be held on the nights of May 31 to June 2 and June 7 to June 9, from Saigon Port to Landmark 81. Water sports activities will be ongoing throughout the festival.
The Ho Chi Minh City open water swimming championship will be held on June 1 and 2 at Bạch Đằng Wharf. The first Ho Chi Minh City SUP (stand-up paddleboarding) championship will be on June 2 at Nhiêu Lộc – Thị Nghè Canal. Water sports activities at Ngôi Sao Việt Wharf, District 7, will take place from June 3 to June 6, with continuous sailboat, jet ski, sailing boat, SUP, and paragliding performances from June 7 to June 9.
Hope for better performance than the 1st festival
In the previous year (2023), at the 1st Ho Chi Minh City River Festival, the city attracted over 120,000 local visitors and 91,000 international visitors. During the four days of the festival, there were 53,956 international visitors, which is an increase of 112.4% compared to the April 30 – May 1 holiday in 2023. More than 60,000 people took part in the festival activities.
The festival also showed the potential for economic growth from events. Revenue from restaurant boats increased by 23%, and the number of passengers on city waterways increased by 50% compared to normal. The river bus, high-speed boat routes, and river tours welcomed around 12,000 visitors, a 15% increase from usual.
The Ho Chi Minh City River Festival is a cultural approach that takes advantage of the natural beauty and historical value of the city’s rivers and canals, including both natural and man-made ones, to create interesting attractions.
However, to succeed and build a strong river tourism brand for Ho Chi Minh City Tourism, there is still much work to be done. It requires the involvement of various departments to invest in, renovate, plan, and develop marinas, piers, and connected services and amenities.
These elements need to be linked together to create a cohesive whole that brings economic value and raises community awareness for sustainable and safe tourism development.
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