VR experience «Trở về thời khắc thiêng liêng» (Return to the Sacred Moment)

   Put on a VR headset in the grounds of the Independence Palace and you are standing in Ba Đình Square on the afternoon of 2 September 1945, watching President Hồ Chí Minh read the Declaration of Independence that founded the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Eighty-one years collapse into a few minutes, on the very spot where the war ended three decades later.

   The programme stops in Ho Chi Minh City for the 81st anniversary of the August Revolution, the uprising that began in Hanoi on 19 August 1945, and in the run-up to National Day on 2 September.

   The numbers behind it:

   First staged in 2025 in Hanoi, for the 80th anniversary of National Day
More than 35,000 visits on that first run, according to Tuổi Trẻ
Organisers expect to serve around 10,000 visits on the Ho Chi Minh City leg, according to VOV Giao thông and Công an nhân dân

   It suits families who want children to see a page of history that usually stays inside a textbook, older visitors comparing their own memory against the reconstruction, and travellers trying to understand why 2 September matters so much here. No prior knowledge of the technology is needed — you queue, you put the headset on.

   The setting is part of the story. The Independence Palace was designed by architect Ngô Viết Thụ, built from 1962 and inaugurated in 1966. At midday on 30 April 1975 liberation army tanks crashed through its gates, closing the war. Today the building is known as Reunification Hall, a special national relic open to visitors in the middle of District 1.

   The programme is produced by the Voice of Vietnam, whose VOV logo appears on the official poster.

   A few practical points. Visitors register at the palace gate itself to receive a queue number, then move to the experience area as staff direct — there is no online booking. Opening on the first day starts half an hour later than on the two following days, which is worth knowing if you plan an early start. Entry is open to everyone.

   Three days, one headset and an autumn afternoon in 1945 waiting for you in the middle of Saigon.