VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 4,000 young people will participate on Saturday in the biggest ever musical event to come to the northwestern province of Lao Cai.
Organised by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s Central Committee and its partners, the event Warm Winter will feature music and dance performances by well-known singers such as Thai Thuy Linh, To Minh Thang and Siu Black, and young performers from the Hanoi-based National Music and Dance Theatre. 
Bundle of love: A child in Son La Province’s Moc Chau District receives blankets from Warm Winter volunteers.
The artists will perform songs and dances in praise of love for country and people by musicians Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Bao Phuc and Nguyen Cuong.
Pop star Linh will sing Ngon Lua Trai Tim (The Flame of Heart), a popular work by Thien, which encourages youngsters to contribute to building a better society.
The theatre’s young singer Ha Van will perform Van Ky’s Co Gai Tay Cam Dan Len Dinh Nui (The Tay Girl Holds Her Stringed Instrument as She Climbs to the Top of the Mountain), a romantic song that pays tribute to the Tay ethnic people.
To wrap up the show, the artists will sing and dance to Vinh Quang Thanh Nien Viet Nam (Viet Nam’s Young People Gloriously) by Quoc Truong.
Social awareness
"We hope our Warm Winter will bring smiles to remote people, particularly children and teenagers," said Smit Chea, chairman of the 4 Oranges.
His company has given more than VND2.2bil (US$140,000) to the union to provide remote and poor people 10,000 blankets, radios and televisions.
The programme has attracted many volunteers, including university students, who are travelling to poor villages in seven remote provinces - Lao Cai, Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Bac Kan, Cao Bang and Ha Giang.
"We visited remote villages like Moc, Dien Bien Dong and Lam Loong, meeting and sharing challenges with local youth and children," said Vo Van Thuong, secretary of HCM City’s Youth Union, which has encouraged its members to join the event.
Thuong said his volunteers will continue their tour to Bat Xat and Muong Khuong, two small villages in Lao Cai. They will present blankets and other gifts to hundreds of local families as well as participate in the music show.
"Through their trip, urban youth can learn more about the lives and work of their remote peers, who live in much more difficulties than themselves," he added.
Last year, the Warm Winter organisers brought music programmes and gifts to remote students and children in five Tay Nguyen (Central highlands) provinces of Dac Lac, Lam Dong, Dac Nong, Gia Lai and Kon Tum.
Sponsored by the Thai paint company 4 Oranges, the free event opens at 7pm at the Lao Cai Square in Lao Cai Town.
It will be broadcast live on the Lao Cai Province Radio and Television channel.
(Source: Viet Nam News)