Hanoi to host unique Valentine’s Day fest next week

As most people are busy preparing for Tet (Lunar New Year), which begins on February 19, many young couples are working out their plans on where to go for a memorable Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day falls on Saturday next week, or the 26th of the current lunar year’s final month.

The 2015 Valentine-Spring Festival will take place on Friday and Saturday next week in Hanoi’s Ho Tay (West Lake) Park, at 614 Lac Long Quan in Tay Ho District.

The festival is a collaboration between HeartLink, a local company, and the park’s management, according to newswire Vietnamplus.

According to the organizer, the festival will boast diverse activities, including several believed to be held for the first time in Vietnam.

Highlights include a cocktail party, an artificial arrangement shaped as Romeo and Juliet’s house – where couples can pose for photos – as well as ample space for young men to express their first loving words to their girls.

One of the best parts will be a mass kissing competition, which is expected to gather some 100 couples to cuddle and exchange passionate kisses.

Love-themed dance and singing competitions, street art performances, and re-enactments of romance from classic literary and motion picture works will also add sweetness to the couples’ special day.

The event is set to kick off at 2:00 pm on Friday next week and run throughout the entire following day.

The park will also offer plenty of games for couples, families, and groups of friends to take part in.

Tickets cost VND100,000 (US$5) apiece.

HeartLink also organized the 2014 Christmas Festival, the country’s largest, in Ho Tay Park in late December last year.

In the same vein, the management of Dam Sen Park, at 3 Hoa Binh Street in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 11, announced its Three-Region Tet Festival at a press meeting on Thursday.

The festival will run from February 20 to 24.

One of its highlights is the re-enactment of Sapa love market sessions, which will see the participation of 30 ethnic minority artisans from the famous Sapa resort town in the northwestern province of Lao Cai.

The Sapa love market, as well as other versions held by other ethnic groups in neighboring provinces, highlights the quest for love among young men and their potential mates.

The market sessions are typically joined by Mong, Dao and Lo Lo ethnic minority people, who usually arrive two or three days in advance to prepare for their long-awaited market.

People may also bring along their produce or hand-made items to sell at the market, but the search for love remains its spotlight.

According to the organizer of the festival at Dam Sen Park, its love market sessions will be realistically re-created against the astonishing background of boundless terraced fields, resplendent mountains and flower-crested forests, which are common sights in the country’s northwestern provinces.