Hà Nội to celebrate New Year with drone light show and marathon

A countdown event, concert, drone light show and an international marathon will be held in Hà Nội to celebrate the New Year 2023.

The city's Department of Culture and Sports has revealed the programme entitled Chào Năm Mới 2023 (Happy New Year 2023) to be held on New Year's eve at Hoàn Kiếm Lake.

The Herbalife Nutrition Countdown Party will begin with a spectacular show of a great number of singers and performers with vibrant lights and music.

The show is divided into three parts with different themes by director Trịnh Bá Linh.

The first part Capital City -- A Proud Harmony will feature a combination of folk and modern music. The highlight will be a performance of artist Phúc Bồ with traditional instruments and beatboxer Thái Sơn along with groups of dancers.

In the second part, Youth Energy -- New Generation Bravery, new and young singers who have made their mark on Việt Nam's music community will entertain the audience with their hits. Among them are Phạm Đình Thái Ngân, Juky San, Hooligan, Hoàng Dũng, and Rocker Nguyễn.

In the Vitality -- Moving Forward part, the most famous artists of Vietnamese showbiz such as singers Tuấn Hưng and Noo Phước Thịnh and diva Thu Minh will take to the stage.

According to director Linh, the key act of the third part will be a 100-drone light show performed by illuminated, synchronised, and choreographed groups of drones that arrange themselves into various aerial formations.

The drone light show takes the wonders of drone technology, blending art and science to create an entirely new form of nighttime display.

The most outstanding technologies in the field of art and entertainment of the 21st century have dazzled audiences across the world with spectacular performances that paint the night sky with dynamic animations and brilliant colour combinations. Each drone serves as a pixel to light up and paint the night sky for an amazing experience. Their beauty in the sky is considered performative artwork.

It will be implemented for the first time in Việt Nam.

Run to the New Year

Following the amazing music and performance party, the Vietnam International Half Marathon (VIHM) will be held at 5am on January 1, 2023.

The first sporting tournament of the year is expected to lure the participation of 5,000 Vietnamese and international athletes, in both elite and amateur categories.

Organisers have sent invitations to different countries which are famous for marathons such as Japan, South Korea and China. Regional athletes from Thailand and Singapore will also join the race.

Among international runners are Chou Ting-yin, champion of the 2022 Tainan Half Marathon in March and Hsieh Chien-ho, the fourth finisher of the 2018 Osaka Half Marathon.

Currently, 61 athletes of the Việt Nam national athletic team have registered to run at the VIHM.

Veteran Nguyễn Văn Lai, who won two 31st SEA Games golds; record holder Nguyễn Thị Oanh, who made a title hattrick at the regional sport meet; and Việt Nam's first SEA Games marathon winner Hoàng Nguyên Thanh will be favourites at the race.

Other SEA Games champions, Lê Đức Phước, Phạm Thị Hồng Lệ and Nguyễn Tiến Long will challenge all runners for the titles.

The VIHM is the first tournament of Việt Nam licensed, supervised and managed by the Asian Athletics Association (AAA).

“From this first half marathon we want to develop it as the full marathon in the coming year if everything goes smoothly,” Đỗ Đình Hồng, director of Hà Nội Department of Culture and Sports, told Việt Nam News.

“We really want to make a tournament with the brand name of Hà Nội which will be listed as an annual must-run event of local and international marathoners.

“I hope that with the support and consultation from the AAA officials we will make it in near future,” he said.

Athletes will run in three distance categories of 5km, 10km and a half marathon which are designed to cross four inner districts of Hà Nội, passing the city's most beautiful streets, famous landmarks and iconic relics. They will vie for the top three of elite and amateur disciplines for both men's and women's pools.

A total purse of VNĐ500 million (US$20,100) will be awarded to the winners.

Part of the cash collected from the tournament will be given to the Fund for Việt Nam’s Athletic Talent Development.

The countdown party and half marathon will be aired on VTC1 channel, and livestreamed on the official fanpage and youtube of the event and webthethao.vn.