Rehearsal for 31st Sea Games opening to be held on May 10

HANOI - The rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (Sea Games 31) will be held on May 5, according to Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The opening ceremony of the regional biennial games will take place on May 12 at Hanoi's My Dinh National Stadium, while the closing ceremony will be held on May 23 at the Indoor Athletics Palace, reported Vietnam News Agency.

Deputy director of Hanoi’s Department of Culture and Sports, Tran Thi Van Anh, said scenarios for the opening and closing ceremonies are being finalised.

The organiser of the games has unveiled the slogan of the regional competitions as "For a Stronger South East Asia” which is expected to send to governments and people in the region a strong message of solidarity to build a powerful Asean Community and further promote its role in the international arena.

The games’ official logo and mascot have also been introduced, with the logo symbolising a flying bird and a V-shaped hand and the mascot based on the saola - a rare mammal listed in Vietnam’s Red Book of Endangered Species.

The 31st SEA Games will be held from May 12-23 in Hanoi and 11 surrounding provinces. Almost 10,000 competitors of all the 11 member countries will vie for medals in 526 events in 40 sports.

The biennial game, which was supposed to be held from Nov 21 to Dec 2, last year, but was postponed to May due to the Covid-19 pandemic. - BERNAMA