A famous Tet music festival for students in Ho Chi Minh City has been temporarily suspended. Why?

Le Hong Phong Festival, a prominent event for students in Ho Chi Minh City that once featured famous rapper Hieuthuhai, will be temporarily suspended in 2025.

PHOTO: LE HONG PHONG FESTIVAL

Reasons for temporarily suspending Le Hong Phong Festival

Le Hong Phong Festival is a traditional spring music festival of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, first held before the Lunar New Year in 2013 and organized by teachers and generations of students of the school. This is always a familiar destination for young people, especially high school students in Ho Chi Minh City every spring, attracting thousands of participants each time it takes place and has had many "big" guests such as Thu Minh, Den, Ha Anh Tuan, Truc Nhan, Hieuthuhai...

Speaking to Thanh Nien , Ms. Pham Thi Be Hien, Principal of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, commented that the Lunar New Year holiday in 2025 takes place early and close to the school's first semester final exam schedule, so organizing a large-scale event like the Le Hong Phong Festival is not appropriate at the present time. Following the recommendation from the School Youth Union, the school's Board of Directors has chosen to temporarily suspend organizing this music night early next year.

However, Ms. Hien emphasized that the unit will still organize smaller-scale activities to create a playground for students of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted this Tet holiday, and will not completely cancel the spring celebration activities.

What about large-scale student concerts?

On social networks, many people expressed regret when they heard that the Le Hong Phong Festival would be temporarily suspended in 2025. They also wondered if there were any other music events organized by teachers and students that they could register to attend and “de-stress” together before officially entering the Lunar New Year holiday.

First held in 1994, the traditional music night Tuoi Hong Minh Khai of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School (District 3) has been held for 29 seasons, becoming one of the outstanding events attracting 4,000 audiences each year. To operate smoothly without outsourcing, the program "recruits" from generations of students and divides members into specialized teams such as arts, logistics, communications, foreign affairs, etc.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Ba, Vice Principal of the school, the significance of social work activities and the opportunity for early career orientation are the “glue” that keeps generations of students attached to Tuoi Hong Minh Khai, especially when all funds from the program are used for activities to help students in difficult circumstances. Recently in November, the school handed over a newly built friendship house to an ethnic minority student in Gia Lai province, and also gave milk and warm clothes to other children in the village.

A performance by the Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School art troupe at the Tuoi Hong program through the lens of a student.

According to Mr. Ba, Tuoi Hong Minh Khai is not only for entertainment purposes but also encourages students to develop their abilities in areas such as art, media, and event organization. "Many students discover their interests and passions through events, thereby clearly defining their aspirations to enter university," Mr. Ba shared, adding that the school's philosophy is comprehensive education, meaning not only teaching knowledge in class but also training practical skills.

“Social work activities like Tuoi Hong Minh Khai are practical and meaningful 'classes' for children to learn how to care, share with society and raise community awareness,” Mr. Ba shared.

In addition to Tuoi Hong Minh Khai, the inner city area in Ho Chi Minh City also has many music nights with thousands of audiences "hosted" by students and teachers with charitable meaning such as Spring & Share (tentative translation: Spring and sharing) of Nguyen An Ninh High School (District 10), Spring of Love of Tran Hung Dao High School (Go Vap District), Spring Ngat Nguong of Nguyen Cong Tru High School (Go Vap District)...

Meanwhile, Thu Duc City (HCMC) also has many annual spring festival programs famous among students such as the Spring Festival of Nguyen Hue High School or the Folk Fair of Nguyen Huu Huan High School...

Representative of the Folk Fair Organizing Committee and former student of Nguyen Huu Huan High School, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Minh Quan, currently working in Singapore, informed that the school's event will take place from 2-10pm, with many activities such as henna painting, hair braiding, playing hopscotch, jumping rope, displaying food stalls of the classes... In the evening, thousands of audiences will have the opportunity to sing along with famous artists for young people.

Two young artists MONO (left) and Low G at the music night held in early 2024 at Nguyen Huu Huan High School

PHOTO: NGUYEN HUU HUAN FOLK FAIR

“Initially, the Folk Fair was just a small event organized by teachers. Gradually, former students working in the fields of event organization, journalism, and media came back to participate and continue the ‘flame’. Up to now, the program has gone through 25 seasons and the team that makes up the Folk Fair is still mainly teachers and generations of students of the school,” Mr. Quan confided.

The folk fair usually takes 5 months to prepare and is a playground for talented students and also an opportunity for school clubs and teams to "shine", according to Mr. Quan.

Career "compass"

A highlight of the spring music night events is to create a professional working environment with guidance and instruction from teachers and experienced alumni. “This is not only a large-scale event but also a place for everyone to freely practice in the stages of event organization and communication. We also look for talented ‘seeds’ from schools in the city,” said Mr. Quan.

As a concrete example, Nguyen Thi Kim Khanh, a student at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, said that her experiences working in the foreign affairs department when organizing the Hung Vuong Concert - the spring festival of Hung Vuong High School for the Gifted (Binh Duong) - helped her determine her passion to become a customer relations specialist in the field of public relations.

“That’s why I chose journalism and communications. The skills I learned in high school, such as teamwork, leadership, organization, project management, etc., helped me quickly integrate and adapt better to the university environment as well as to practical work,” Khanh shared.

Kim Khanh (right) on a survey trip to Dak Lak with members of the Hung Vuong Concert to prepare for charity activities in 2025.

PHOTO: HUNG VUONG CONCERT

Nguyen Quynh Y An, Head of the Hung Vuong Concert Organizing Committee, agreed. Through tasks such as contacting the People's Committee, coordinating with volunteer units and learning about the circumstances of poor students, An said she had learned a lot about social work. Recently, she and the group went on a survey at Cu Pui 1 Primary School (Dak Lak) and plans to return next year to award scholarships, repair the school and carry out youth projects.

Funds for the above activities are drawn from the profits of the Hung Vuong Concert event, An emphasized.

Mr. Tran Vo Nam Quoc, Secretary of the Youth Union of Hung Vuong High School for the Gifted (Binh Duong), affirmed that activities such as the spring music night are an effective way for students to develop soft skills, confidence and teamwork spirit, which are essential factors for work and life later on. This also helps students develop comprehensively and meet the school's teaching goals, in addition to the spirit of volunteerism, according to the male teacher.

Pham Nguyen Bao Trinh, a student at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School (HCMC), shared: “Through the role of human resource manager at the Tuoi Hong event, I learned lessons that are not taught in class such as management, time management or effective communication and information. At the same time, I also received additional training in human resource management skills and flexible response to situations.”

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mot-nhac-hoi-tet-noi-tieng-cua-gioi-hoc-sinh-tphcm-tam-dung-to-chuc-vi-sao-185241211135151179.htm