The conference was a venue for managers, local authorities, researchers and artists to meet, share experience and assess the results of Vietnam’s participation in the event.

During the festival, the Vietnamese delegation held 11 folk art performances, introduced Vietnam’s traditional handicrafts and featured vivid images of Vietnam – a peaceful prosperous country with rich cultural tradition.

The 2007 programme highlighted the diverse cultures of the Mekong River, Northern Ireland and the roots of Virginia in the US.

Under the theme “Mekong River: Connecting Cultures”, the festival drew the participation of 250 artists, performers, craftspeople, cooks and ritual specialists from the Mekong region who introduced visitors to the diverse cultures of the Mekong River, a region with close ties to the United States by recent historical events and by the more than 2 million Americans who trace their ancestry to Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and the Chinese province of Yunnan.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is a special annual event sponsored by the Centre for Folklife and Cultural Heritage around the world to feature daily and evening music and dance performances, crafts and cooking demonstrations, storytelling and discussions of cultural issues.