Quang Binh to pay tribute to General Vo Nguyen Giap in August

A special music show dedicated to Gerneral Vo Nguyen Giap will be held at the Culture Centre of the central province of Quang Binh on August 18.

General Vo Nguyen Giap (fourth from right) discusses strategy with members of the Dien Bien Phu Strategy Directing Board in March 1954. (Photo: VNA)

The show aims to celebrate 73^rd anniversary of the August Revolution (August 19) and National Day (September 2), the 107^th birthday (August 25) and fifth anniversary of the death (October 4) of General Vo Nguyen Giap, who was born in the province, said Director of the provincial Department of Culture and Sports Tran Vu Khiem.

The show titled Hát Câu Hò Khoan Nhớ Về Đại Tướng (Singing Folk Songs to Remember the General) expresses the appreciation of Quang Binh’s people for the General.

It will feature the local “ho khoan” (chant) singing to praise traditional culture. “Ho khoan Le Thuy” is a genre of traditional Vietnamese music, originating from Le Thuy district, Quang Binh where General Giap was born. The chants are typically sung by groups, with one person setting the tune and the rest singing the chorus, to both entertain and encourage people in their work.

The show will be a tribute of Quang Binh’s people to their general who they admire and at the same time, promote and preserve the traditional values of “ho khoan Le Thuy,” which has been recognised as part of the national intangible cultural heritage, Khiem said.

The event is also intended to give young people a better understanding of the great sacrifice of people who served the nation during the struggle for independence.

On August 25, the General’s birthday, various activities will be organised at the General’s homeland, Loc Thuy Commune, Le Thuy District, including an incense procession at the General’s tomb site at Vung Chua–Dao Yen in Quang Trach District, the General’s photo procession from the Memorial House in Loc Thuy Commune to the Traditional House at the Le Thuy District’s centre.

The district will organise a photo exhibition on local tourism potential, swimming and boat races in Kien Giang River, and a volleyball tournament on the occasion, while the district’s authority will visit and present gifts to local policy beneficiaries and veterans.

An exchange show between veteran revolutionaries and young people themed "General Vo Nguyen Giap in the Youth’s Hearts" will be held at Le Thuy District’s Culture-Sport Centre on August 20.

General Giap was the Commander-in-Chief of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign that helped end Vietnam’s nine-year resistance war against French colonialists in 1954.

He, whose real name is Vo Giap (alias Van), was born in Loc Thuy commune, Le Thuy district, the central province of Quang Binh on August 25, 1911. He passed away in Hanoi on October 4, 2013 at the age of 103.

He once served as a Politburo member, Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Standing Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence, Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnamese People’s Army and a National Assembly deputy from the first to seventh tenures.

Serving the nation for more than eight decades, he was loved and respected by Vietnamese people and international friends and is viewed as a hero to generations of officers and soldiers nationwide./.

Translated by Van Anh