Every country has a special event that only happens there and a lot of tourists participate as well. Hoi An memories show is the special event of Vietnam that is huge like Olympics opening ceremony. It has a lot of importance in the lives of the people of Vietnam because it displays the 400 years old history, evolution and development of the country. There are visual performances, cultural and traditional displays, fireworks and a lot of other interesting things in the theatre with 3300 seats and 25000 square meters’ area. With the passage of time, the content and story lines are improving with every passing year and it is becoming more interesting. There are 5 parts of the show which are distributed according to the time and events. The majestic history, dynasties, religious changes and traditional developments are performed on stage. You will instantly go back to the hundred years old times. The performances show the rivers, mountains and the flooded plains, Hoi An old port with the traditional music, perfect lighting, choreography and hi- tech management.
(Ao Dai – Hoi An Memories Show)
People from all around the world especially book to enjoy the show and the memories remain with them forever. The Vietnamese people feel very proud of their history and culture because this event plays an important role in passing the knowledge into their coming generations. It seems like a huge Hollywood set with over 500 performers and thousands of audiences. They work with complete dedication to spread the knowledge of their culture, traditions and history.
Hoi An Impression Theme Park
The impression theme park is the key component of the memories show because they celebrate the rich history and culture of Hoi An. The entire crew, members and workers are the part of the event. They perform, act and manage according to their duties. Before the starting of the event you can roam around the park to see how amazing that place is. There are magic shows, street music, traditional cuisine stalls and many other things distributed in the entire park. Different folk tales are also performed in the park according to the timing. These tales are associated with the Vietnamese culture and tradition like the love story of Silk Queen, Trai Ho take on a ferocious tiger, the wedding of princess Ngoc Hoa, Tam Tang and many more. The theme park has different areas which are used by decorating them like the Villages, pagodas, bridges and workshops. The park normally remains open from 5pm till 12:00am and is closed on Tuesdays.
(Hoi An Memories Show)
How to get to the Memories show
Impressions theme park is very close to the old town and the Hoang Dieu road goes straight to there by crossing the bridge to Cam Nam Island. At the end of the bridge take the second left to the Luong Nhu Bich where you can see a lot of people going straight on the road. It ends at the huge signs and a lot of security of the show. You can easily get there by different means. Taxi charge around 1.50USD or 30,000 VND to get to take you there. You can pass from a very beautiful scene if you are going by walk or a bike.
(Hoi An Memories Show)
Take the immediate left after crossing the bridge. There you walk by the river bank and reach the bridge to the impressions island. You can easily reach the park in 15 to 20 minutes from the cloth market in the Hoi an old town. Another wonderful mean of travel is the boat that very less people know. You can get a free boat ride from the old town and it drops you behind the theme park where you can easily find the Memories show venue. Boat is the quickest and most interesting way to reach the park. Have your dinner before the show because after the show it becomes late and the old town closes at 10:00pm. You get very less dinner options.
Memories show Tickets and Seating zones
The prices of tickets vary according to the seating zones. The front and sides of the stage are Eco section. After this is the high section and VIP sections. The Eco section and the Hi section are the seating in the stadium where as the VIP lounge is a little separate with sofas and cushions. Complimentary snacks, water and hand fans are also given in the VIP seating area.
The tourist passes cost around 600,000 VND for adults and for kids it is from 300,000 VND to 450,000 VND.
The Eco seating passes are for 600,000 VND
The VIP Seating passes are for 900,000 VND
Sometimes the entrance to the park is for free and other than that the charges are 100,000 VND and the combo tickets are available with additional 30,000 VND to the show passes. It is better to get the ticket of the show only and enter the park during the free entrance hours. Different websites offer discounts of the Hoi An memories show ticket but they are not applied on the combo tickets.
(Hoi An Memories Show)
Time and Duration
Tuesdays are the only day when there is no show because the park remains closed or the weather is bad. The show happens every night for 1 hour 15 minutes from 7:30pm to 8:45pm.
Thoughts about Hoi An Memories show
The phenomenal show is a grand spectacle that should not be missed if you are travelling to Vietnam. This is one of its kind because of its amazing story line, arrangement and performance. You feel like living the Vietnamese traditions and spirits. The grand cultural performance is a power pack to take you on a journey of history, happiness, suffering, grief, growth, development and a number of emotions. There are no points, plots and twists in the show because the town is the main character. It is very interesting to watch and easily understandable even without a proper narration. For example, there is a loom of time and the tapestry of life in which the performers are strands, they form different patterns to create different events. The weaving sounds and the loom sounds are carefully created that you will really feel like the actress weaving the life of the town is really bringing back the past.
(Hoi An Memories Show)
Memories show stage
The island where the memories show happen is an artificial island that is especially built in the form of being on the two opposite banks of the Thu Bon River. There are five huge stages where the entire show happens. The female weaver shows the story by weaving a tapestry of life and narrating several things to take the audience back in the past and historical moments. The back stage is full of actors, extras, management staff and technicians. The extras on the other side chat, and perform the daily life chores that appears like the window of the past is showing 17th century.
Giant sized props are created with moveable parts like merchant ship, giant elephant, dragon, river and many more. Every scene has different props with moves, effects and choreography that appear more interesting and beautiful in the strips of lights in the different directions of the stage. The changing of season and the passing of time is shown by the lights. Although, everyone can easily understand what is going on but still there are two big screens to show subtitles in Vietnamese and English. There are five parts of the show:
Part 1 – Life
The show begins with the life that appears as a colorful picture of the start of everything. This part shows how the life started in Hoi An. The fisherman is building houses and more people are coming. How the customs, culture, traditions and costumes were created and how they developed with the time. It also shows the beginning of different traditional professions of Hoi An. This part is basically the introduction of the traditional life of the town.
Part 2 – Wedding
This is a very beautiful and festive part of the performance. The impressive performance shows the wedding of Princess Huyen Tran and King Che Man. The backdrops of dances of the wedding, Cham Pa temples, towers and many other things are stunning and extremely fascinating. The wedding is portrayed in a very impressive way that you feel like, you are actually attending a royal wedding. Costumes and colors are taken from the Cham culture. The huge elephant prop is used in the royal wedding as a part of Cham culture. The entire celebration looks real.
Part 3 – Lamps and Sea
Sea plays an important part in the life of the people of Hoi an. The scene shows a woman waiting for her sailor husband at the sea. The woman turns into a statue of stone by desperately waiting. The husband returns in the end and feels wretched. He squirms in grief beside the statue of his wife. There is no narrated story line of the performance. Hundreds of dancers and professional performers perform the story in colorful traditional costumes.
Part 4 – Trading Port
The Hoi An trading port is shown in 17th century that is a very important part of Hoi An establishment and history. This part portrays the trade relations of Hoi An with other countries. The traders from Japan, Holland, France, China and India are coming for business. They also attend the local festivals. The glorious strong past of the town is showed in details by the crew. They are very well prepared and perfectly choreographed.
Part 5 – Ao Dai
The end of the show is the Ao Dai part in which they show many ancient structures of Hoi An from the history. Most of them are still there and well preserved. You can visit them after the introduction. Hoi An has kept almost everything related to its past, values and traditions.
The performance is the hard work of two years when they tirelessly performed and practiced it. It is very popular among the tourists of Vietnam and they recommend it to other people. The show has five star reviews on the biggest travel websites and it broke two records:
- The largest outdoor visual art performance in the country
- The daily show with the highest number of actors
(Hoi An Memories Show)
This is the biggest show of Vietnam and the most unique one in the world. You will be amazed to see the management and performances. If you have limited budget than you should prefer watching the Hoi An memories show and skip one activity. After the show a lot of places in the old town will be closed so if you find something to eat from the food stalls of the park then get that. Do not book the show with a tour group because you will be bound to stay with them in the park otherwise you can visit the park early and explore it before the show.