The striking pyrotechnic displays during the opening night of this year’s international fireworks competition hosted by the central city of Da Nang held local and foreign spectators in awe on the weekend.

The Da Nang International Fireworks Competition (DIFC), in its ninth year, attracted eight teams from the UK, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, China, and Vietnam.

The event is part of the 2017 Da Nang International Fireworks Festival, themed ‘Toa Sang Ngu Hanh Son’ (roughly translated as ‘Shining Ngu Hanh Mountain’), which opened on Sunday night on the floating stage on the city’s iconic Han River.

The festival will run from April 29 to June 24.

Last night saw the spectacular performances by teams from Austria and the host team of Da Nang.

The night opened with an art and music show featuring seasoned Vietnamese singers and artists from troupes across the country.

The Austrian team also delivered their hallmark horn and flag dancing performances. The sky was dotted with air balloons and hang-gliders, while the floating stage was a perfect fusion of hi-tech shows, sound and lighting effects, laser designs and 3D mapping images.

Floating flower-shaped lanterns, blazing torches and firecracker effects stunningly accentuated the night’s theme, ‘Hoa’ (Fire).

The Da Nang team’s fireworks display against the melodic background music held spectators spellbound from start to finish.

Meanwhile, the Austrian team treated audiences to a unique visual champagne feast and took them to a dream-like, entrancing world.

Four similar fireworks displays, themed Tho (Soil), Kim (Metal), Thuy (Water) and Moc (Tree), which along with Hoa make up five Oriental core elements, will be organized on Saturday nights on May 20 and 27 and June 3 and 24.

There will also be complementary events to entertain visitors throughout the week, ranging from Cham Culture Festivals (Wednesdays), Street Festivals (Fridays), Beer Festivals (every day), to International Cuisine Festivals (every day), and Sculpture Festivals.

The municipal administration expected to make the event ‘a must-visit fest’ which appeals greatly to international holidaymakers.

The city is also looking to welcome approximately two million tourist arrivals to this year’s fireworks festival.

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