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.

Famous Japanese mime artist Iimuro Naoki will put on shows in Hanoi and the ancient capital city of Hue in June, according to the Japan Foundation.

42 works of art including paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs and videos by 11 contemporary Japanese artists are on display at an exhibition which opened in Hanoi on May 14.

A Buddhist Culture Week began on May 16 at the Lieu Quan Buddhism Culture Centre in the central city of Hue to celebrate the 2,554th birthday of Buddha and the 1,000th birthday of Hanoi capital city.

Close to 200 documents and photos on President Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnam-France Friendship” are being displayed at an exhibition that opened in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on May 17.

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) on May 17 launched a festival on photos, documentaries and TV reportages that feature the land and people of ASEAN member countries.

The Japanese T’rung Association has been established to advertise Vietnam’s unique culture and arts to the land of the rising sun.

Vietnamese cultural products, handicrafts, garments and textiles are being showcased at the fortnight fair of cultures in Mexico City. 

The fifth European food festival will take place at the National Library on Trang Thi Street in Hanoi on May 22.

The event is one of the State level activities to mark the 120th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s birth.

Many people are highly concerned about measures to protect the beauty of Hanoi’s cultural heritage, which is in dire need of a master plan.

French artistes will play a substantial part in the 2010 Hue Festival, which takes place in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue from June 5-13.

A press briefing was held in Mexico’s Acapunco city, Guerrero state, on May 12 to announce the organisation of the first “Vietnam Week” to be held in the city from May 19-28. 

A gala evening spotlighting the cultures of 54 ethnic minorities was held at the My Dinh National Convention Centre in Hanoi on May 12 to celebrate the first Congress of Ethnic Minority groups in the country.

Several paintings by Vietnamese artists will be up for auction at Hong Kong's Mandarin Oriental Hotel on May 29.

Newly 700 works of art will be choosen to be displayed at the 2010 National Fine Arts Exhibition in Hanoi later this year.

A rock concert themed “Tiger Translate 2010” will be held at the Giang Vo Exhibition Centre on May 22, drawing the participation of a famous rock band from the UK, two leading rock bands in Vietnam and painter Tran Trung Linh.

The Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee has decided to establish a preservation zone for the Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), a mammal similar to the African oryx.

Firework will be set off on May 15 as part of the Sen Village Festival 2010 to mark Uncle Ho’s 120th birth anniversary in his home province of Nghe An in central Vietnam.

A Vietnamese week will take place in Cuba and Mexico from May 21 to June 5, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).

The Vietnam War Veterans Association in coordination with the Mai Linh Corporation will receive 1,000 heroes and heroic mothers on the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The famous Italian opera singers, Francesca Patanè and Marco Chingari, performed at the Hanoi Opera House on May 10.

Vietnamese songs, dishes, ao dai (traditional long dress) collections and palm-leaf conical hats were among the highlights that drew crowds at the Hi Seoul Festival 2010.

Japan’s traditional festival of Satkuki opened at the Giang Vo exhibition centre in Hanoi on May 8.

Researchers and scientists have completed an encyclopedia about Hanoi in the lead up to the millennial anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi. 

An exhibition of Japanese contemporary fine arts will be held for the first time in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City from May 14-15.

A book entitled “Dien Bien Phu – seen from the other side” has been published in France by the World Publishing House (Nouveau Monde).

Three hundred journalists from 43 domestic and foreign press agencies have registered to cover the 2010 Hue Festival.

Vietnam Sea and Island Week 2010, themed “The ocean of the life, preserve the life of the ocean”, will be held in the central province of Quang Binh from June 4-6.