Fireworks at Hue Festival 2010 on June 5th

The government has permitted the organizing board of Hue Festival 2010 to let off fireworks for 15 minutes at the opening and closing ceremonies on June 5 and 13.

VietNamNet Bridge – The government has permitted the organizing board of Hue Festival 2010 to let off fireworks for 15 minutes at the opening and closing ceremonies held at Ngo Mon Square on June 5 and Gia Hoi ground on June 13.

Hue Festival an experience of heritage amid change

Hue Festival: imposing and holy Nam Giao offering ceremony

Hue Festival welcomes art troupes from 31 countries

Fireworks at Hue Festival 2008.

The 6^th Hue Festival will feature the theme “Cultural heritage with integration and development”. At this moment, 26 countries have registered to join the festival, including seven countries that participate in the event the first time – Cuba, Haiti, Senegal, Mexico, Denmark, Norway and Poland.

Many forms of arts will be performed during the 8-day festival, such as singing, circus, drama, street arts, installation art, movie, and puppetry.

The festival will not only be held inside Hue city but also Hue’s neighbouring areas like A Luoi, Nam Dong and Phu Loc districts.

Hue Festival 2010 is among national events to celebrate Hanoi’s 1000^th anniversary and 50^thanniversary of the relations among Hanoi-Hue-Saigon.

PV

At Least 59 Die and 200 Are Hurt in Fire at Bangkok Nightclub - NYTimes.com

BANGKOK — A fire at a high-end Bangkok nightclub killed at least 59 people and injured more than 200 shortly after midnight on Thursday as revelers were celebrating the new year, the police said.

Nightclub workers said fireworks had been set off around the midnight countdown, but the cause of the fire was not yet confirmed, said Lt. Sutin Pongkhamphan, the police officer in charge of the case.

He said that 54 people died at the scene at the popular club, the Santika, and that 5 more died at hospitals. An additional 212 people were injured, including 21 with severe injuries.

Bodies were laid out in white sheets on the street in front of the blackened nightclub, as sirens sounded throughout the night in the crowded streets of central Bangkok.

“We were all dancing, and suddenly there was a big flame that came out of the front of the stage and everybody was running away,” Oh Benjamas, a partygoer, told Reuters. “People started running for the doors and breaking the windows.”

Most of the deaths and injuries were caused by a stampede in the three-story club, which has one main exit and was packed with about 1,000 people, Lieutenant Sutin said. Other deaths came from burns and smoke inhalation.

“The fire spread very quickly because there was a lot of fuel in the club, like alcohol, foam and balloons,” he said.

Gen. Jongrak Jutanont of the police told The Associated Press that the injured included citizens of Australia, Nepal, Japan and the Netherlands. There was no immediate confirmation that any foreigners had died.

One employee said the fire started on the top floor and spread quickly, sending smoke through the building and causing panic, the Web site of The Nation, a daily newspaper, said.

The Santika, in the Ekamai district, is popular with the local Thai and foreign jet set.

“It attracts an affluent Thai student crowd, with Euro models and Westerners also popping in,” according to one Thai entertainment Web site.

Janesara Fugal contributed reporting.

9th Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival begins

The ninth Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival kicked off at Century Park in eastern Shanghai's Pudong District on Tuesday evening.
A fireworks show by Russian artists lightsup Century Park in Shanghai's Pudong New Area on Tuesday, September 30, 2008, as part of the city's ninth International Music and Fireworks Festival.
Artists from China and Russia presented their fireworks shows on the opening night, leaving a deep impact on the audience.
The "graceful Oriental dance and Chinese music and fireworks show" staged by two Chinese corporations blended rhythm, color, and composition of fireworks with Asian dancing and music.
Local residents who missed the performance on Tuesday still have a chance to enjoy the fireworks on October 3 and 6, when Japanese and German fireworks companies will play the leading roles.
Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival is organized around National Day and has been held every year at the Century Park since 2000 to showcase new sound, light and electrical technology.
Previous festivals have showcased masters from Switzerland, Britain, Japan and Argentina.
The pyrotechnic exhibitions are part of the ongoing Shanghai Tourism Festival.