As part of the ongoing Da Nang - Summer Rendezvous programme 2017 between 17 to 23 June, the recent 2-day ‘Ngay Hoi Mien Bien’ (Coastal Festival) attracted a great deal of attention from both locals and visitors.

Contestant in a fishing net knitting contest

Held at the East Sea Park, the Coastal Festival featured such fascinating competitions as tug-of-war, coracle races, and fishing net knitting and fish-carrying.  These games saw the participation of many fishermen from Son Tra District’s coastal wards and representatives from the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beaches. 

These activities helped to accurately recreate the daily lives of local fishermen, and they were hailed with long rounds of warm applause from the enthusiastic spectators.

Mr Anthony Bennett, a tourist from the USA, happily said that this was the first time he had watched a coracle race and he was thrilled by how quickly and skilfully the competitors steered the coracles at sea. 

Another visitor, Mr Nguyen Ngoc Trung from Thai Nguyen Province, enthusiastically cheered the contestants during an exciting fish-carrying competition and he tried it himself, carrying a bamboo yoke hung with baskets at each end used to carry fish.  Mr Trung noted that he found it very difficult to walk on the sand whilst carrying such a heavy bamboo yoke on his shoulders.  This game helped him and others understand more about the difficulties and hardships of local fishermen.

An exciting tug of war contest

Apart from the above-mentioned Coastal Festival, the ongoing Da Nang - Summer Rendezvous programme 2017 is also highlighting other interesting activities.  Included are the Son Tra Adventure Run, a paragliding race themed ‘Flying over the Tien Sa Festival’, a cycle race to conquer the Son Tra Peninsula, a contest to create sand sculptures for students from local universities, and kite flying performances by members of the Ho Chi Minh City Kite Flying Club. 

Also, visitors have an opportunity to admire beautiful paintings on coracles drawn by talented students from the city’s University of Architecture.

Such watersports as jet skiing, coracle racing, paragliding, water skiing, banana boat riding and kayaking are also available for visitors.

According to the Deputy Head of the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beaches, Mr Nguyen Duc Vu, the ongoing Da Nang - Summer Rendezvous programme 2017 helps to advertise the city’s image and make local beach activities even more attractive to locals and visitors.

According to the Management Board, over recent days, the local beaches welcomed between 40,000 and 50,000 visitors in total per day, and they came to swim, relax and sightsee.

The Board has focused on ensuring security and environmental sanitation on the local tourism beaches, and enhancing the operation of local lifeguards to ensure the safety of swimmers.  This helps visitors to enjoy truly safe and comfortable stays in this beautiful seaside city.