The Sixth Minsk Olympics!!!

13 05 2008





The Sixth Minsk Olympics

13 05 2008

Minsk Olympics

Get your motors running – the Sixth Minsk Olympics will be held in Thac Da resort from May 31st to June 1st and this year’s event promises to be the biggest and best one yet.

For the uninitiated the Minsk Olympics is an annual event held at Thac Da resort in Ha Tay province 60km from Hanoi and over the years it has become one of the most eagerly awaited events on the social calendar. It’s a great chance to get out of Hanoi – or fly up from Ho Chi Minh City! Go on, we double dare you! – and celebrate the start of summer.

If you’re worried about your carbon footprint, fear not, you don’t have to drive a Minsk to join in the fun. It doesn’t matter if your preferred set of wheels is a Honda Chaly, a Penny Farthing or your local xe om driver! The Minsk Olympics is all about bringing people from Vietnam’s broad mix of communities together and having fun in the sun then dancing through the night.

On Saturday evening there will be a lavish banquet and later on as usual the Minsk Club in collaboration with the CAMA sound-system will be putting on a massive party with the very best djs from Hanoi and tonnes of live music.

The Hanoi-based outfit Digital Offensive will be first to get the party started, then there will be original Vietnamese rock tunes from Holy Red Cross, spectacular electro pop from the Traks Boys, who will be flying all the way from Tokyo to perform exclusively at this event, then last but not least, there will be sublime rhymes from hip-hop artists Da Aya Clan, who will be coming up from Ho Chi Minh City to strut their stuff on stage.

But make sure you get there by midday or early afternoon, as this year the Olympic Events begin on Saturday afternoon! There will be heats for the slow-bike obstacle race starting at 2pm and those who qualify will get a chance to compete for the much-coveted Piston Trophy in the finals on Sunday with a prize for the best male and female driver. On Sunday you can also join in the highly popular Komrade Struggle in which the blindfolded pillion passenger has to listen to the driver’s instructions, or simply use the force, to hurl tire tubes into the net to score points.

Tickets cost VND500,000 which includes stilt-house accommodation, the banquet on Saturday night, breakfast and lunch on Sunday, and entry and parking at the resort. As preparations will begin early on Saturday there will be a crew heading down on Friday night and rumour has it the CAMA djs will be spinning some tunes, so if you’d like to make a weekend of it just contact the club at minskclubvietnam@hotmail.com. There are also a limited number of private rooms with AC available, so again, drop the club a line to make a booking (no pressure but it’s first in first served). For directions to Thac Da resort check out minskclubvietnam.com.

A brief history of the Minsk Club

The Hanoi Minsk Club was established in March 1998, when more than 85 enthusiasts turned up a tiny bar in the Hanoi suburbs to trade stories of their travels through the Vietnamese rural heartlands on the back of the legendarily robust Belarusian motorbike.

Since then the Minsk Club has promoted the safe exploration of rural Vietnam on two wheels whilst organising more than 40 events for locals and expatriates alike, including the Dai Lai Lake Charity Rally, which raised funds for a children’s home for disadvantaged and handicapped children, and the Minsk Olympics weekend festival, held annually in May at Thac Da resort, Ba Vi district in Ha Tay province since 2003.

The 10-year Anniversary Music Festival, held last month at Hanoi’s American Club, was the club’s biggest achievement yet with bands from Australia, England, Japan , Thailand and Vietnam playing to a crowd of over 1,000 happy punters. The Olympics is another chance for the Minsk Club to showcase Hanoi’s increasingly vibrant music scene while promoting Vietnam as a destination for the intrepid traveller. The Minsk Club looks forward to seeing you in Thac Da!





Hanoi International Music Festival

7 03 2008

Images from the festival at ABDPhoto

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