On the evening of March 7, the 10th Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Festival 2024 was grandly and gracefully opened on the stage in front of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Headquarters.

Attending the event were: Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh - former Vice President; Mr. Phan Van Mai - Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee; Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha - former Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee; Ms. Nguyen Thi Le - Chairwoman of the City People's Council, Ms. Pham Phuong Thao, former Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, former Chairwoman of the City People's Council, Ms. Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam, former Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, former Chairwoman of the City People's Council, Ms. Vo Thi Dung - former Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Ms. Tran Lan Phuong - Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Women's Union, Ms. Phan Thi Thang - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Ms. Tran Kim Yen - Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

The program opened with the song "My beloved city, Ao Dai city" by musician Mai Tram, bearing the mark of 10 years of the Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Festival performed by singers, actors and especially with the participation of the uncles and aunts of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union Traditional Club. The song brought pride to the Ao Dai for all genders, all ages and suitable for many environments and circumstances.

The 10th Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Festival 2024 officially opened at 7:00 p.m. on March 7 at Nguyen Hue Walking Street.

In his opening speech, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, said that the Ao Dai Festival of the city has shown a breakthrough in scale and quality when it was held for the first time in the city center, with a series of 11 rich and diverse activities.

After being held at several locations such as the Youth Cultural House, the History Museum, etc., the Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Festival has now been held annually at the beginning of March every year at the Ho Chi Minh Monument Park and Nguyen Hue walking street.

"By 2024, with the 10th time being held, the City Ao Dai Festival has received the response of hundreds of tailors, shops - Ao Dai businesses in activities, the participation of more than 800 Ao Dai designs from 30 leading Ao Dai designers nationwide, along with the participation of 22 artists, celebrities, beauty queens and runners-up" - Mr. Nguyen Van Dung emphasized.

The most special thing is the response to the Festival activities from the people living and working in the city, as well as domestic and foreign tourists. These waves of influence not only arouse the love for the Ao Dai but also the honor, the spirit of national pride, the pride of the beauty of the homeland of Vietnam.

The highlight of the opening night, in addition to the attractive art program, the public enjoyed the Art Program consisting of 2 chapters: Chapter 1 with the theme "Ao Dai - Vietnamese Soul, Vietnamese Culture" and Chapter 2 with the theme "Ao Dai to the World"; at the same time, admire the collections of 800 outstanding Ao Dai designs meticulously crafted by the skillful and creative hands of 30 famous Ao Dai designers. All of them not only carry national pride but also contribute to preserving the quintessence of Vietnamese culture; with the participation of 22 artists, celebrities, beauty queens, runners-up... as image ambassadors for the Festival.

What made visitors and attendees excited was the Ao Dai performance "The Beauty of Vietnamese Ao Dai" performed by female consuls general and their wives. That not only contributed to strengthening the friendly cooperation between countries but also spread the beauty of Ao Dai to international friends.

Within the framework of the Festival, the Organizing Committee awarded certificates of merit from the City People's Committee to outstanding collectives and individuals who have accompanied the development and attachment to the Ao Dai Festival in the 10-year journey to express gratitude for their enthusiastic and positive contributions; awarded the Vietnamese record: "Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Festival - The festival honoring and promoting Vietnamese Ao Dai held the most consecutively (10 times from 2014 to 2024).

The opening ceremony was attended by a large cast of actors who have contributed to the previous 10 Festival seasons; the tourism ambassadors are familiar faces from different fields but all share a love for the traditional national ao dai.

They voluntarily share their time and efforts to maintain and spread the beauty of the ao dai.