Travel in brief on 28 May 2010

HCM City prepares for Grand Sale
The HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is inviting traders to join the Impressive Viet Nam Grand Sale 2010 and will begin to accept registrations next month.
The programme is part of a national marketing campaign called Viet Nam-Your Destination initiated by the National Administration of Tourism.
To be organised by the Departments of Industry and Trade and Culture, Sports and Tourism of HCM City, Da Nang and Ha Noi in August and September, the programme will offer discounts of 10-40 per cent on a range of goods and services.
Binh Thuan to raise profile overseas
Binh Thuan Province will take part in a Vietnamese cultural and tourism festival to be held in Japan and South Korea from June 22 to 27. It will showcase not only its popular beach destinations like Mui Ne but also golf, healthcare facilities, potential for investment in tourism-related real estate, landscapes, annual festivals, and seafood-based cuisine.
Canadians set to toast national day
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam will organise Canada Day at the Parklands Country Club in HCM City’s District 2 next Saturday.
There will be music and dancing, food and drink, and family fun activities, including a ‘mini-Olympics’.
Tickets cost VND7.5 million for a corporate pack (10 adults) and VND2.2 million for a family pack (two adults and two children), VND800,000 for adults, and VND400,000 for children. For further information, contact (08) 3824 3754.
Bridge festival celebrates street art
Nguyen Nga, the Vietnamese-French owner of Maison des Arts in Ha Noi, is preparing to hold the second annual Long Bien Bridge Festival of contemporary and street arts later this year.
Dragon Bridge Tells of Thang Long’s 1,000 Years will run from September 30 to October 15 on Long Bien Bridge.
Ha Noi’s iconic bridge will be decorated with the flags of many countries while a ship carrying a 100-man band and popular overseas orchestra Urban Sax will sail from the old capital of Hoa Lu in Ninh Binh Province to Long Bien Bridge and Ha Long Bay.
The band will represent the 100 Vietnamese children in the Au Co-Lac Long Quan legend of the country’s founding. The voyage will depict the shifting of the country’s capital from Hoa Lu to Dai La (Ha Noi today) by King Ly Thai To in the 11th century.
A fleet of small boats will carry monks, nuns, and Buddhist faithful who will pray for the country’s heroes and martyrs who sacrificed their lives for independence.