Festival «Sắc màu Hà Thanh - Rạng rỡ đôi bờ» (Colours of the Hà Thanh)

   The Hà Thanh river splits Quy Nhơn into two banks, and until now it has simply been a river. On 18 and 19 September it becomes a stage for the first time: two wards, Quy Nhơn and Quy Nhơn Đông, jointly stage the festival «Sắc màu Hà Thanh - Rạng rỡ đôi bờ» — the colours of the Hà Thanh, both banks aglow. This is the first edition, under the motto «connect the river, spread the local character, light up the future».

   Everything happens on the water and along the embankments; the organisers have not set out entry terms, and the banks are open. Exact start times have not been announced yet. The programme runs over two days and rests on four things.

   The essentials:

   — the «Thuyền hoa Hà Thanh» contest of decorated flower boats moving down the river;
   — the Hà Thanh SUP race;
   — traditional boat racing, the narrow rowing boats crewed by dozens of paddlers;
   — «Dòng sông ánh sáng», a riverside light performance.

   Evening is the better time to come: that is when the light programme runs and the decorated boats move across dark water. Daytime belongs to the races — loud, with supporters on both banks, and a rare chance to watch traditional rowing from a few metres rather than on a screen.

   Quy Nhơn is a coastal town that has been growing as a resort, and this festival is openly about that: the two ward administrations say they want the river to stop being scenery and start being a place people come to. For a visitor that means the event is built for an audience rather than for a report, and that it will most likely return next year.

   Formally it runs under a joint plan of the people's committees of Quy Nhơn and Quy Nhơn Đông wards. The hour-by-hour programme is still being finalised — check the Gia Lai provincial newspaper before you go.

   Two days, two embankments and a river cast, for once, as the main character of the town. If you are in Quy Nhơn in mid-September, come down to the water.