Art & Entertainment News 13/2 Legendary American 80s mixer to headline show US DJ John Morales, a legendary mixer/remixer of the 80s, will perform at a pre-Tet party at the Observatory tomorrow. Morales started playing records in his native Bronx, and then edited and remixed his favourite tracks. He has worked as a mixer/remixer for artists and groups like Jocelyn Brown, Inner Life, Musique and Bumblebee Unlimited. In 1982, he teamed up with Sergio Munzibai and together during the 80's did more than 450 remixes as M&M, including work for Rolling Stones, Dan Hartman and Shalamar. The performance will begin at 10pm at 5 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in District 4. Entrance is free before midnight, and VND100,000 after midnight. HCM City announces entertainment lineup for Tet HCM City will host a series of entertainment activities celebrating Tet. A flower festival and several fairs will be held at parks in the centre of the city, including Tao Dan, September 23 and Le Van Tam, from tomorrow. The street light shows will be presented along streets in District 1, including Ham Nghi, Dong Khoi and Le Loi streets during this month. The city's annual flower and book street festivals will open from February 16-22 on Ham Nghi Street. The city will organise two major 15-minute firework displays at Dam Sen Park in District 11 and Bitexco Financial Tower in District 1 on Lunar New Year's Eve on February 18. The displays in District 1 will occur with a visual art performance spotlighting images of the city's famous sites, including the HCM City Post Office, Ben Thanh Market, Opera House and Reunification Palace. There will be other six firework displays in the districts of 2, 12, 9, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh and Can Gio. Bookworm to celebrate Tet with music On Sunday, Bookworm and Hanoi Cooking Centre will host an afternoon of traditional music, calligraphy and zodiac animal painting in honour of the Tet holiday. The event will also feature a class on traditional banh chung (square sticky rice cake) making. Free to he (coloured-dough toy figure) and animal balloons will be on hand as well as special discounts on all Bookworm books. Free hot mulled wine, traditional rice wine and cookies will be served during the event, which will take place at 44 Chau Long Street, Ba Dinh District. FVH to host city walk to Quan Thanh Temple On Sunday, Friends of Vietnam Heritage (FVH) will hold a city walk to learn about Quan Thanh Temple and Ngu Xa Village by Truc Bach Lake. Starting at 9:30am, the 2.5-hour walk will start at Quan Thanh Temple, which contains a 350-year-old bronze statue of Tran Vu, Ha Noi's guardian of the North. The walkers will then continue around Truc Bach Lake visiting a few pagodas and a community house. Ngu Xa Island used to be a bronze casting village and the group will stop at one of the bronze casting workshops. Meeting point: in front of Quan Thanh Temple on Thanh Nien Road (parking for motorbikes in front of the temple). Cost: VND70,000. Limit: 10 people. Registration: Jura at jura.cullen@cantab.net DJ Tri Minh and friends to perform at Manzi On Friday night, Manzi Art Space will present a concert by DJ and electronic music artist Tri Minh and his friends. Entitled Hanoi Ambient Experiments, the concert will revive the best Ha Noi moments through his nostalgic sound-portrait of the city. This special night will also feature artists Van Mai (16-string zither), Dao Anh Khanh (vocal) and Duc Minh (jew harp). The concert will start at 8pm at Manzi (14 Phan Huy Ich Street). Admission with one drink costs VND500,000, which goes toward the artists and organisational costs. TV programme to honour overseas Vietnamese A special TV programme honouring the contributions of overseas Vietnamese will be aired on VTV4 next Thursday to mark the Lunar New Year. Ngay Tro Ve (Going Home) features touching stories about different generations of overseas Vietnamese people who have always had a deep attachment to their homeland. They have made outstanding contributions to Viet Nam in various sectors including business, scientific research, culture and arts. The annual programme includes interviews and discussions with people in Viet Nam and abroad. It will be aired on February 19 at 1 am, 9am and 7pm on VTV4 and rebroadcast at 9pm the following day. Calligraphy street runs in HCM City A calligraphy street has been established at the Labour Culture Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, honouring the distinguished tradition of the Lunar New Year (Tet). The vibrant street exhibits the work of more than 50 calligraphers of varied ages, all gathering to perform their art. Notably, the record-setting 500 kilogram prayer scroll conveying deep gratitude and appreciation towards mothering is on display at the event. The festivities will run through February 17. Calligraphy is considered an art of spirit, involving both external and internal beauty. The artists must invoke their mind and soul to create the lively handwriting and stir an emotional response. In Vietnam, homes are commonly adorned with the artwork to bring best wishes for a new year of prosperity and happiness. Photo festival for young artists planned The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism unveiled their plans to host a festival for young photographers in 2015, the first of its kind in Vietnam. The festival, open to photographers between 18-35 years of age, is scheduled to take place in March. Young artists will reflect on contemporary issues revolving around “the youth’s role in the integration and development process” and “urban lifestyle and modern countryside”. Coffee festival promoting Buon Ma Thuot brand The fifth Buon Ma Thuot’s Coffee Festival promoting the coffee brand of the Tay Nguyen Central Highlands is scheduled to take place from March 9-12, said Vice Chairman of the Dak Lak People’s Committee Dinh Van Khiet at a press conference on February 10. According to Khiet, the festival is an occasion to honour coffee growers, promote coffee tourism culture, and solidify Vietnamese coffee’s position in the global coffee industry. The festival also connects coffee farmers and enterprises and consumers. Tay Nguyen is a major coffee growing region in Vietnam. Dak Lak province, with Buon Ma Thuot as its capital city, has 203,000 hectares of coffee plants with an annual output of at least 450,000 tonnes of beans, making it the country’s biggest coffee-producing province. Vietnam is now the second largest coffee exporter in the world. The country shipped 1.73 million tonnes of coffee beans abroad in 2014, earning 3.62 billion USD in revenues. Sofitel Saigon to host FTA hospitality awards The fourth annual "FTA Winter Dinner in HCM City with Very Special Friends" will be held at the Sofitel Saigon Plaza today to honour recipients of the 2015 FTA Hospitality Awards for Excellence. FTA (Fred Tibbitts & Associates, Inc.) is a Bangkok- and Phnom Penh-based NGO serving the global hospitality industry. It holds relationship building and hospitality humanitarian dinners in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, HCM City, Singapore, Bangkok, New Delhi, Mumbai and New York to benefit the FTA Hospitality Schools Scholarship Fund as well as humanitarian activities in Thailand and Cambodia. The official presentations, along with a scholarship in each recipient's name, will be made at the FTA Fall Dinners in Hong Kong in October and New York City in November. Exhibition ‘Small Thing’ opens in Hanoi A fine arts exhibition titled ‘Small Thing’, featuring small works, kicked off at No. 16 Ngo Quyen Street, Hanoi on February 11. The event is organised by the Vietnam Fine Arts Association (VFAA) for the third time for the VFAA’s members in Hanoi, as part of activities to welcome the 2015 Lunar New Year. The exhibition is displaying over 190 small-size works by 191 artists in various mediums such as oils, lacquer, acrylics, silk, pastels, block prints, and painting on ‘Do’ paper. Although the works feature different styles, content, themes and the hallmark of each artist, all works are filled with the aspiration for a new spring and new success in creating art. The exhibition runs until February 24. On the occasion, the Vietnam Fine Arts Association also announced some scheduled events, including exhibitions by women artists, young painters and armed forces, as well as a cartoon exhibition and sculpture exhibition. Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/ND