The programme opened with a “dream box” segment, charming the audience with children’s aspirations that spanned from future doctors, singers and footballers to aspiring YouTubers, or simply excelling in school and being well-behaved.
In his opening remarks, Le Quoc Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, said: “As a newspaper serving the people, Nhan Dan always seeks to meet the cultural and artistic needs of audiences of all ages, from seniors and middle-aged adults to young children. This is also why we organised the ‘Giving Wings to Dreams’ programme, reaffirming Nhan Dan’s commitment to curate meaningful cultural spaces for the public.”
Minh also expressed hope that large-scale art programmes for children would be staged not only in Ha Noi but also in localities across the country, enabling more children to experience high-calibre cultural performances.
The programme took its young audience on a journey into the magical world of art and a realm of memories, inviting them to relive their parents’ childhoods amid cheers and applause.
The programme’s first chapter evoked the childhood memories of generations of Vietnamese children through the warmth and teachings of President Ho Chi Minh and evocative imagery of school life, red scarves, grains of rice, fields, and parents’ memories.
These familiar vignettes nurtured a love for homeland rooted in the simplest facets of everyday life.
The second chapter transported the children into a colourful natural world, where paper aeroplanes transformed into boats and the Milky Way became a river leading to a forest teeming with flowers, plants, insects and animals.
Music, circus acts, puppetry, mascots and dance blended with direct audience interaction, encouraging the children to dance, play and explore.
The final chapter shifted the focus from exploring the surrounding world to defining personal aspirations.
Supported by families and teachers while building self-belief, the children learned that dreams must be nurtured daily through learning, practice and perseverance.
The stage was designed with exceptional aesthetic depth, creating an open space that fluidly transformed throughout the performance.
At times it resembled a classroom; at others, terraced fields turning from lush green to gold under brilliant sunlight, a sky filled with vivid pink clouds, or a colourful fairy-tale world.
Sophisticated lighting and projection mapping conjured a forest of light and giant insects that seemed to fly across the auditorium, creating a mesmerising spectacle for the young audience.
Before the main performance, children also took part in experiential activities in the lobby of the National Convention Centre, where they played games, answered quizzes for prizes, posed for photos in nature- and fairy-tale-themed settings, wrote down their wishes and folded paper aeroplanes.
Beyond creating a dedicated artistic space for children, “Giving Wings to Dreams” reflected Nhan Dan’s commitment, as a leading Party newspaper, to partnering with society to nurture children, bringing them joy and enriching their spiritual lives beyond school hours.
Concurrently, art programmes for children offer Nhan Dan an opportunity to nurture its future readers, cultivate a passion for reading and encourage children to ask questions and explore the world from an early age.
