Opening ceremony «Đại hội Thể dục thể thao tỉnh Khánh Hòa lần thứ I» (Khánh Hòa Sports Games)

   Picture Nha Trang's seafront square turned into a stadium for one evening: 22 marching columns filing past the main stand, then the whole plaza switching to a mass performance built around the theme "Khánh Hòa - Vươn cao, bay xa" ("Khánh Hòa - rising high, flying far"). Stand anywhere along Trần Phú street and you see all of it.

   This is the opening of the first province-level sports games Khánh Hòa has staged since its borders were enlarged - hence the "1st edition" in the name. The ceremony alone mobilises 2,500 people, while the competitions have been running since January: by late July the organising committee had completed 16 of 21 provincial sports, with 58 delegations taking part. Phan Rang ward currently leads the overall standings and the ward bracket, Phước Hữu leads among communes, and the provincial police team tops the department bracket.

   The numbers that matter
2,500 participants in the ceremony
22 marching columns
21 provincial sports, 58 delegations
64 communes and wards ran their own local games
Around 6.5 billion VND budgeted for the opening and closing ceremonies

   For families, and for anyone staying on the beach strip, this is a chance to watch a full Vietnamese parade-and-mass-gymnastics ceremony in the middle of a resort city. For anyone who follows sport here, it is the shop window for Khánh Hòa's squad ahead of the 10th National Sports Games in 2026: the competition programme, running from 1 January to 15 September 2026, is built to select the province's strongest athletes, with priority given to Olympic and Asian Games disciplines the province is good at.

   Quảng trường 2 tháng 4 is the largest public space in Nha Trang, right on the shoreline next to Tháp Trầm Hương, the city's landmark tower. Its petal-shaped paved arena and the open sea behind it keep the columns and formations readable even from the far side of the square.

   The games are directed by the Khánh Hòa Provincial People's Committee, with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism as standing organiser; preparations for the ceremony are overseen by Nguyen Long Bien (Nguyễn Long Biên), Standing Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee.

   The stand and the parade route will be cordoned off, so arrive early if you want a clear line of sight.

   For further details, contact the Khánh Hòa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism at [email protected].

   If you are in Nha Trang that week, this is the biggest thing happening on the waterfront - worth giving an evening to.