Thousands of people braved the sun to wait for free concert tickets

From early morning on August 20, the square of the Hanoi Opera House was packed with people. Thousands of spectators, mostly young people, jostled under the scorching heat to wait for free tickets to the national concert “Vietnam in Me”.

The square in front of the Opera House is not large and is located in the middle of a busy traffic area, making movement difficult.

Motorbikes and cars lined up, many vehicles were parked on the sidewalks and on the road. The sound of car horns and traffic control speakers mixed with the calls of people creating a noisy scene.

Amid the sweltering heat, many young people said they had been there since 3 o'clock and were patiently waiting.

Traffic police were present from 6am to regulate traffic, but the increasing number of people made the situation overloaded.

However, there are also many people who have to give up halfway because of suffocation and difficulty breathing in the crowded crowd.

Nguyen Thuy Duong, born in 2009, and her friends were present at the Opera House area at 5:30, but at 7:00, had to rush out because of dizziness.

“Give up, I can’t get tickets today! Let’s rest a bit more and then go home, we’ll leave early tomorrow,” Duong shared.

Tran Manh Dung, a university student in Hanoi , arrived at 7am, but quickly gave up when he saw thousands of people crowding the ticket distribution area.

"Today is considered a field trip, I will come up earlier tomorrow morning," Dung said.

The crowding was so suffocating that the young people had to sadly talk about giving up.

According to the announcement of the organizing committee, from 9am on August 20, tickets for the concert "Vietnam in Me" will be distributed free of charge at the Hanoi Opera House and will last for 3 days (August 20 to 22).

There are 3,000 tickets available each day, distributed in two time slots: 9am to 11:30am and 1pm to 4:30pm. Each audience member can receive a maximum of 2 tickets, and must present their original ID. Tickets cannot be bought, sold, or transferred; if lost or damaged, they will not be reissued.

However, due to the large number of people and to reduce traffic pressure, the organizers moved the ticket distribution time for August 20th up earlier; before 9am, all tickets were sold out.

Motorbikes lined the sidewalks and spilled onto the street around the Hanoi Opera House.

The free ticket distribution aims to help the public have access to high-quality art, while creating a cohesive space.

“We want to eliminate the distance between artists and audiences. The songs in the program will touch hearts, arouse national pride and love for the homeland,” said a representative of the Hanoi Opera House.

However, due to not anticipating people's ticket demand, there was no traffic flow in this area, causing people to queue up in large numbers, creating a chaotic situation that was difficult to control.

The concert "Vietnam in Me" is a key event in the series of activities celebrating the 80th anniversary of National Day September 2, directed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and performed by the Hanoi Opera House.

The show takes place at 8:00 p.m. on August 26, at the North Courtyard of the Vietnam Exhibition Center (Dong Anh Commune, Hanoi), bringing together famous artists such as: Soobin Hoang Son, Hoa Minzy, Erik, Duc Phuc, Anh Tu, Quan AP, Duong Hoang Yen, Chillies band...

MAI AN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/hang-ngan-nguoi-doi-nang-cho-nhan-ve-concert-mien-phi-post809222.html