The largest parade in the history of Vietnam was kicked off in Hanoi this morning, October 10, to celebrate the city’s 1,000th birthday.
The event started at 7:55am at Ba Dinh Square with a torchlight procession from the Ho Chi Minh Museum to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
Following was the flag-saluting ceremony at 8:00, accompanied by the national anthem sang by all attendants and the blasting of 21 cannons.
After that thousands of people performed a song about Hanoi.
The parade continued with the performance of by ten helicopters carrying the Communist Party flag, the national flag and a banner “Celebrating Thang Long-Hanoi’s 1000th Anniversary” and 31,000 participants.
On the ground, cars taking the “coat of arms” symbol, photos of the late President Ho chi Minh, the Communist Party and national flags moved towards the tribune.
Up to 15 army groups with 12,000 people, including soldiers and policemen, comprised of both male and female militias, participated in the parade.
The event also attracted the participation of 17 public groups. The Hanoi group came first with the processions of adragon, Hanoi symbols and a certificate recoganising the Thang Long Royal Citadel as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO. Later, 1,000 children will end the Hanoi group’s act by releasing birds and baloons.
The parade delegation started from Hung Vuong Street and then was divided into two groups to travel along Nguyen Thai Hoc-Trang Thi-Opera House streets and Nguyen Thai Hoc-Kim Ma-Deawoo route.
People gathered along the road to see the parade and watched live on television and on 20 big screens installed along major roads in Hanoi to serve tourists.
To Van Dong, Chief of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Office, said the programme is aimed to honour forces, particularly achievements of the party, the army, and people during the reform process. It also praises the capital city of heroic tradition and civilisation.
To ensure success of the parade, the city banned all means of transport, excluding prioritised vehicles, from running on many important streets from 8:00am on October 9 to 12:00 on October 10. The roads comprise Hung Vuong-Hoang Van thu-Chua Mot Cot-Doc Lap-Ong Ich Khiem-Ba Huyen Thanh Quan-Ton That Dan-Nguyen Canh Chan-Bac Son-Mai Xuan Thuong-Le Hong Hong-Thanh Nien-Hoang Hoa Tham (section from Mai Xuan Thuong to Lieu Giai); Thuy Khue-Quan Thanh-Phan Dinh Phuong-Dien Bien Phu-Chu Van An-Hoang Dieu-Nguyen Tri Phuong-Nguyen Thai Hoc-Trang Thi-Hang Khay-Trang Tien-and those around August Reveolution Square-Tran Quang Khai-Tran Khanh Du-Kim Ma-Lieu Giai-Van Cao-Nguyen Chi Thanh-Yen Phu-Bach Thao (Botanical) Park.
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