The popular Indian dance troupe Odissi will give a performance in Hanoi on June 4 during their visit to Vietnam to appear at the 2010 Hue Festival. 

Buddhist monks, nuns, and followers nationwide have taken part in a variety of activities to celebrate Buddha’s 2554th birthday (April 15 on the lunar calendar).

The “Vietnam Week” and a photo exhibition on Vietnam kicked off in Mexico on May 25 as part of activities to mark 35 years of Vietnam-Mexico diplomatic ties.

A Carlsberg beer festival will be held for the first time as part of the 2010 Hue Festival from June 4-6.

Vietnamese folk singing or “Quan Ho Bac Ninh” has been included in the list of “Best in Asia 2010” published by the US magazine Time.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the National Steering Committee for the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long Ha Noi, Nguyen Sinh Hung, chaired a conference to review the ongoing preparations for the millennium anniversary in Hanoi on May 25.

The Irish Song and Dance performance has been co-organised by the Embassy of Ireland and the Vietnam Performing Arts Center to raise money for children with autism in Hanoi and people living with HIV-AIDS in HCMC.  

Vietnam won two gold medals and a cup at the Vietnam International Photo Contest 2010, said Chu Chi Thanh, head of the contest’s jury board.

Vietnam’s handicraft items have been displayed at an exhibition in Verneuil-sur-Arve in the central French province of Eure by the France-Vietnam friendship and solidarity association (AASFV).

A German Film Festival will start as of May 28 in five of Vietnam’s major cities, namely Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.

A fine art exhibition on Buddhist Culture has opened in Ho Chi Minh City to celebrate the 2,554th anniversary of Buddha’s birth (in the Buddhist Calendar).

A concert dubbed “Chants Lunairres”, has been held in Zurich, Switzerland, featuring songs set from poems written by famous Vietnamese Han Mac Tu.

A book on environmental security for sustainable development has been introduced to readers as a publication to mark World Environment Day (June 5).

The film “Dung dot” (Don’t burn) has been selected to be screened at the opening of the Vietnam Film Week in Havana, Cuba, from June 1-5.

An exhibition about the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi opened at the Vietnam Cultural Centre in Paris, France on May 22.

The first children’s international theatre festival will begin on May 24 in the Hanoi Opera House with seven theatre groups, both overseas and domestic, taking part.

Miss Russia 2010, Irina Antonenko, will pay a visit to Vietnam on June 3-7 at the invitation of the Russian Standard International organisation to join in a series of charity activities in the Asian region.

Famous Vietnamese and US writers like Nguyen Duy, Nguyen Quang Thieu, Lam Thi My Da, Kevin Bowen, and Larry Heinemann have all accepted invitations to the Vietnam-US Literary Seminar which will be held in Hanoi from May 28-June 2.

The Hue Monuments Conservation Centre has announced thatit will donate almost 300 royal documents issued by the Le, Tay Son, and Nguyen Dynasties between the 15th and 20th centuries to the US Library of Congress in digitised version.

A photo contest themed “A moment of Thang Long” has been launched to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The “Friendship Connections” programme will be held in the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology on May 29-30 to celebrate International Children’s Day.

Following the success of the last year’s festival, Nguyen Nga, who is living in France, is busy completing her final preparations for the 2010 Long Bien Festival to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Viet-Da Nang craft village festival 2010 officially opened at 29/3 Park in Da Nang City on May 19.

Hue Festival 2010’s press centre officially opened at 22B Le Loi street in Hue City on May 20.

A friendship exchange was held in Hanoi on May 19 to celebrate the Vietnam-China Friendship Year 2010, the 120th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh and the 1,000th anniversary of Hanoi.

The 2010 International Children’s Theatre Festival will be held in Hanoi from May 24 to June 1.

The VOV bureau in HCM City has granted the first prize worth VND10 million of the ethnic minorities and the national unity bloc contest to a resident of the city.

An exhibition displaying more than 300 documents, objects and photos of Uncle Ho and Vietnamese armed forces opened at the Museum of Vietnam Military History on May 18.

A culture and tourism festival started on May 18 at the Museum of Vietnamese Ethnic Cultures in the northern province of Thai Nguyen.

A display of 1,000 kites and a carnival will take place in the ancient imperial city of Hue at the start of a series on events in different locations all the way up the country from central Hue City to Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi, to mark the millennium anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.