A journalist from the DA NANG Newspaper, whose penname is Da Nam, recently interviewed Mr Le Quy Duong, the General Director of the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF) 2017 which will take place between 29 April and 24 June 2017.  His aim was to learn more about this forthcoming event. 

A spectacular fireworks performance at DIFC 2015

Mr Duong remarked that the city authorities, Sun Group, and relevant agencies are hoping to lift DIFF’s brand name to an international level, thereby creating a closer connection between domestic and international communities through the promotion of humanitarian messages which the event wants to widely convey.

Mr Duong underlined that Da Nang itself inspired him to develop ideas for completing the programme for the upcoming DIFF 2017 in a short time.  He remarked, “Da Nang is peaceful and simple, but full of vitality which provides an endless source of inspiration for creative works”. 

Mr Duong

Mr Duong said that DIFF 2017 will convey the message that Da Nang is a young, dynamic, creative city full of special time-honoured traditions.

During this year’s event, the focus will be on ensuring close interaction between its festive programmes and both locals and visitors, and creating meaningful connections between these programmes. 

The fireworks will be released near the Novotel on Bach Dang on 5 Saturdays - 29 April, 20 May, 27 May, 3 June and 24 June.  Two teams will perform each night, but the last date will be the grand finale featuring the 3 best teams from the 8. 

The festival will take ‘Toa Sang Ngu Hanh Son’ (Shining Marble Mountains) as its theme.   Inspired by the Marble Mountains with their elements of ancient oriental philosophy, the 5 performance nights will be entitled ‘Fire’, ‘Earth’, ‘Metal’, ‘Water’ and ‘Wood’ respectively.  Mr Duong explained that this arrangement is based on the Productive Cycle in which ‘Water’ provides nourishment for trees (Wood), which is then used as fuel for ‘Fire’, resulting in ashes (Earth).  Earth is mined for minerals, or ‘Metal’, which when melted, run like ‘Water’.  This is known as the Productive Cycle, where the elements produce one another.  In this cycle, an element strengthens and grows the element that it produces.  This aims to convey a message that, in the current world of divisions, people should positively accept one another’s differences and love one another for a peaceful co-existence.

Mr Duong was the first Vietnamese to be elected to the 16-member executive council of the International Theatre Institute (ITI).  Headquartered in Paris, ITI is the world’s largest performing arts organisation.  It was founded in 1948 by theatre and dance experts and UNESCO.

Mr Duong is now the Deputy Chairman of the ITI’s International Festival Forum. He revealed that UNESCO plans to implement a project for developing a list of the world’s leading destinations for organising performing arts and festivals.  He hopes, therefore, that a successful DIFF 2017 will put Da Nang onto this prestigious list, and affirm the city’s position on the world tourism map over future years.

Sun Group General Director Dang Minh Truong said that the city is preparing to welcome millions of visitors during DIFF 2017.  He affirmed that efforts will be made to develop DIFF into one of Asia’s largest fireworks festivals in future years.  He added that Sun Group also plans to develop a 10-year strategy for making Da Nang a city of fireworks festivals.  Currently, preparations for DIFF 2017 are progressing well in a bid to ensure the success of this important festival.