in Music & Arts

Vietnamese American Lo-Fi R&B Star Keshi Adds HCMC Show to World Tour

As a pleasant post-Tết gift for fans in Vietnam, a stop in Saigon was announced as part of the Asian leg of keshi’s world tour.

in Quãng 8

Ly Mí Cường Takes the Sounds of Sáo H'Mông From Hà Giang to International Stages

Born in 2005, Ly Mí Cường has brought sáo Mèo to international music competitions twice in his life — and he managed to take home the first prize both times. Cường’s anchor is always H’Mông culture, the wellspring that has nurtured his soul ever since he first took up the flute of his people, sáo H’Mông.

in Travel

Insights, Polished History Lessons Await in Hanoi's Massive, Brutalist Military Museum

When I pitched a review of Hanoi’s massive new Vietnam Military History Museum to the Saigoneer editorial staff, I expected to find the museum somewhat boring. After all, although I am a historian, I am not really that interested in military stuff, and I’d been to the original location on Điện Biên Phủ Street several times — how could this new museum improve on the old one? What could this new museum say that the old one didn’t? What could I learn here that I haven’t already learned at Saigon’s War Remnants Museum and Hồ Chí Minh Campaign Museum, at Điện Biên Phủ’s war museum, at Hải Phòng’s naval museum, and at the countless other shrines to Vietnamese martial prowess across the country? Quite a lot, it turns out.

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

'The Colors of April' Invites Numerous Generations of Vietnamese to Reflect on War

“If the rain could wash away everything, maybe we could all find peace. For the third generation after the war, what was left behind wasn’t anger or bitterness, but an enduring sorrow that echoed from the heart.”

Thi Nguyễn

in Culture

In Vietnam, Joss Papers Link Life and Death, Modernity and Tradition

Joss papers and effigies consumed my experiences before I began to even question their meaning. On the anniversary of my grandfather’s death (giỗ), my grandmother routinely set up a large pot in our tiny front yard and burned a stack of replica paper money. It is quite a scene to watch — the fire turned the paper to smoke and ash, and within minutes it was as if the paper never existed.

in Culture

Every Mùng Một, My Family Organizes Our Own Temple Run to Visit 10 Temples

According to Vietnamese traditions, the first, second, and third days of Tết are reserved for one’s paternal family, maternal family, and teacher’s family, respectively.

in Culture

On Hội Xuân, the Harbinger of Tết for High School Students

When I was a high school student, Lunar New Year brought with it a lot of excitement. Not only did we get a week-long break, we also got plenty of fun school activities leading up to the holidays. For me, one of my most anticipated events during this period of time was the high school Tết concerts. 

in Culture

The Tết Board Games That Help Foster (and Destroy) Family Relations

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as beating all your siblings and cousins in a heated game of cờ cá ngựa. 

Back Arts & Culture

in Culture

[Video] Watch This Toyota Logo Disappear in 3 Seconds Flat

Saigon is full of magic tricks, from gravity-defying motorbike cargo to skyscrapers built at hyperspeed. But perhaps the least-welcome form of Saigon magic is the swift and unexpected disappearance of...

in Music & Arts

Saigon's First-Ever Affordable Art Opens This Week

Following two successful events up north, affordable art fair Art for You is coming to Saigon with the help of Hanoi-based galleries Work Room Four and Manzi. We caught up with the fair's organizers t...

in Film & TV

It's Official: 'Kong: Skull Island' Will Film in Vietnam

Last month, director and screenwriter Jordan Charles Vogt-Roberts scouted locations in Vietnam for his upcoming film, Kong: Skull Island, the prequel to the 2005 Hollywood blockbuster King Kong.

in Culture

[Video] A Poetic Look at Cho Lon

Some people have a knack for seeing things differently. Just like the backpacker who managed to make Pham Ngu Lao seem like a bastion of authentic local culture, so have Huy Tran and the Only in Saigo...

in Culture

[Photos] Photographer Captures Slum Life on the Banks of Hanoi’s Red River

From north to south, urban Vietnam is full of contrasts. Skyscrapers go up next to shophouses. Food carts rub shoulders with five-star hotels. And sometimes, amid the changing cityscapes of this fast-...

in Arts & Culture

Sweden Just Held Its Largest Ever Exhibition of Contemporary Vietnamese Art

Mien Meo Mieng / Contemporary Art from Vietnam – the most comprehensive exhibition of contemporary Vietnamese art ever presented in Sweden – features installations, drawings, paintings, videos and scu...

in Music & Arts

Stunning Vietnamese Children's Book Wins Asia-Wide Prize

When it comes to reading materials for kids, Vietnam is full of small, inexpensive paperbacks, but seldom does the country produce a colorful, high-quality storybook like The First Journey.

in Music & Arts

The Music Man: Mark Gergis' Old-School Saigon Soul

When he was young, Mark Gergis – like most American teenagers – spent a lot of time sifting through records (or cassettes or CDs or iTunes...whatever your generation did). It was the 1980s, and there ...

in Film & TV

Vietnamese Film Submitted to 2016 Oscars

For the first time in two years, a Vietnamese film is in the running for an Academy Award.

in Music & Arts

Islands, Archipelagos and Other Liquid Territories: Exploring the High Seas with Map Office

Acclaimed Hong Kong-based artists Laurent Gutierrez and Valerie Portefaix of Map Office bring to Dia Projects their first solo show in Saigon, titled Islands, Archipelagos and Other Liquid Territories...

in Culture

[Photos] 15 Old Photos to Celebrate Vietnamese Women's Day

Today marks the 85th Vietnamese Women's Day. A nationally observed holiday since 1930, October 20 commemorates the day upon which the country's Women's Union was officially established and recognized ...

in Music & Arts

Saigon Student Creates Vietnam-Themed Alphabet

When Luu Trong Nhan first came across Around the World with Type, a project by Indian design students Rigved Sathe and Payal Jagwani, the 23-year-old student knew he could create an equally stunning V...

in Culture

[Video] Insane Buon Ma Thuot Floods Sweep Away Motorbikes

In Vietnam's latest installment of flood-related news, yet another deluge has struck the country, this time in the Central Highlands city of Buon Ma Thuot.

in Music & Arts

Phnom Penh to Transform Abandoned Ship Into Floating Arts Center

Phnom Penh is about to get a new attraction in an old, deteriorating boat.

in Music & Arts

[Video] Downtown Saigon Is at Its Best in This Drone Video

Sometimes, when you're trapped in a gridlock of rush hour traffic, struck by an especially foul scent or awoken by the ear-splitting noise of roosters, construction projects and chatty next-door neigh...

in Music & Arts

Event Rewind: Beer Fest @ Saigon Outcast

Last Saturday, crowds of thirsty Saigoneers flocked to Saigon Outcast for its first-ever Beer Fest, which celebrated the city's growing number of craft beer producers.

in Arts & Culture

[Video] Saigon Ad Agency Portrays Romance With a Good, Old-Fashioned Cavity Search

Most Vietnamese TV commercials are pretty much the same: there's a bit of dancing, a few graphics and a handful of attractive young people parading across the screen. Everything is glossy, well-produc...

in Music & Arts

Saigoneer's September Art Picks

After the city's gallery scene took a summer hiatus, Saigoneer is back with our art picks for the month. September was off to a good start with a variety of exhibitions, employing everything from urba...

in Music & Arts

New Edition Of Standpoint Theories Will Hit Saigon This Month

Multi-disciplinary production company Standpoint Theories returns to Saigon with three performances of Legends of Vietnam: Remix, an evolution of last year's Legends of Vietnam. The new and improved p...

in Culture

Thai Binh Businessman Builds Made-in-Vietnam Mini Submarine

We all have our hobbies: for some it's tennis, for others it's golf, and for one guy in northern Thai Binh province, it's building military-grade submarines.