6th Vietnam Book Festival underway
The 6th Vietnam Book Festival is being held at Thong Nhat Park in Hanoi from April 18 to 22, to promote reading among young people and attract public attention.
Photo: Vietnam News Agency
The festival has the participation of 84 publishers and bookstores in 100 booths. On the opening day on April 18, attended by thousands of people, activities held included a photo exhibition of the festival over the years, a talk show entitled “Hanoi Memories in Old Houses”, and the launch of the book “Kim Lien - A Childhood”. Many bookstores are offering discounts of 30 to 50 per cent during the festival.
Readers will be able to participate in activities organized by publishers during the five-day festival, such as introductions of new books, talk shows and meetings with famous local authors, and a series of experiential activities and games for children organized by the Crabit Kidbooks bookstore.
The Ministry of Information and Communications requested that news and media agencies focus on promoting “Vietnam Book Day”, held annually on April 21, in order to encourage and develop reading among the population, help Vietnamese access books, and turn reading into a habit in every family and office. Vietnam Book Day was first launched in 2014, with April 21 being chosen, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications, because April was when “Duong Kach menh”, or “The Revolutionary Path”, was released by President Ho Chi Minh in 1927. It is considered the first communist book in Vietnamese printed by Vietnamese communist printers.
The Vietnam Book Festival is held every year as a practical action to promote a reading culture among Vietnamese people. Figures have indicated that Vietnam lags behind the rest of world when it comes to reading habits. According to the Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnamese read an average of four books a year, of which 2.8 are textbooks and 1.2 are other books. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issues an average of 0.8 books per year to each Vietnamese and an average of 0.35 copies to each library. The Vietnam Publishing Association said textbooks and school books accounted for 80 per cent of the number of books on the market.
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