HCM City (VNA)💝 – An outdoor music gala will be held this week in HCM City on the 105th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s departure abroad to seek ways to save the country (June 5). It will also be the 40th anniversary of the day that Saigon- Gia Dinh was renamed after the President (July 2).

The event, called ‘Shining HCM City - The City named after President Ho Chi Minh’, will feature dozens of veteran and young singers and bands, including pop stars Cam Van, Dam Vinh Hung, Ho Ngoc Ha, and opera singers Anh Bang and Thanh Thuy. Patriotic songs in praise of the country, soldiers and President Ho Chi Minh, composed by gurus like Hoang Hiep and Phan Huynh Dieu, will be included. Pop bands MTV and Blue Melodies will perform new songs in pop, dance and electronic music, on themes related to youth, love and life. The event is part of many cultural activities launched by the city’s People’s Committee in cooperation with Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the occasion. It will open at 7pm on July 3 at Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in District 1. On June 26, more than 1,500 people visited Sen Hong Stage on Pham Ngu Lao Street in District 1 to join the awards ceremony of the Song Composing Contest, which aimed to mark the 40th anniversary of the day the city was renamed after President Ho Chi Minh. The three-month contest received 111 songs submitted and created by 85 amateur and professional songwriters and musicians across the country. “I’m an amateur in composing, but I was interested in joining the contest,” said young singer Y Jang Tuyn of the Central Highlands region. “Through the contest, I wanted to show my love and respect for Uncle Ho, a national hero who devoted his life to the country and people,” he added. The best songs will be published in a music book by the Tre (Youth) Publishing House next month.-VNA