The event saw the attendance of member of the Party Central Committee (PCC), Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam; PCC member, Deputy Secretary of the Ha Noi Party Committee, and Chairman of the Municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung; Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee Dao Duc Toan; Vice Chairman of the Municipal People’s Committee Ngo Van Quy.
Among leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Viet Nam Airlines, the Viet Nam federation of Boat Racing, various tourists and local residents were also in attendance.
In his opening speech, Director of the Ha Noi Department of Culture and Sports, To Van Dong said that the Open Dragon Boat Race Festival 2019 drew the participation of 33 delegations with the total of 43 teams, and 700 professional and amateur racers.
Especially, this year’s race attracted the participation of four international delegations from Malaysia, Hong Kong (China), Singapore and Laos.
The Organizing Board expected that the race would become a unique cultural event, contributing to promoting the city's culture and history among international visitors.
Chairman of the Ha Noi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung beats the drum to open the race.
At the ceremony, Chairman of the Municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung beat the drum to officially kick off the Open Ha Noi Dragon Boat Racing Festival 2019. Leaders of the Central and Ha Noi then presented flowers to participating teams before the start of the race.
After the opening ceremony, the racers officially began the competition with two categories for professional and amateur teams.
The tournament takes place on February 16th and 17th, 2019.
