The Vietnamese embassy in Mexico has held a solemn ceremony to commemorate the 18 Hung Kings who founded the country and began a golden era in Vietnam’s history.

The film “Bi, dung so!” (Bi, don’t be afraid) is in the running for the International Critics’ Week prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in May.

Work on the casting of the largest special bronze drum in celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi began in the central province of Thanh Hoa on April 23.

Senator Alberto Anaya, General Secretary of Mexico’s Labour Party (PT), held a recent press briefing to announce the publication of a Spanish collection of political writings by Ho Chi Minh.

More than 100 images, photos, and documentary films featuring the history of Vietnam’s seas and islands are being displayed at an exhibition that opened in the central province of Quang Ngai on April 22.

Tran Thi Huong Giang, the Vietnamese super model, has been crowned Miss Grand Slam Asia 2009.

An exhibition opened in Lam Son Park, Ho Chi Minh City on April 21 as part of its preparations for the 35th anniversary of the south’s liberation and national reunification.

Solidarity and unity are the most important characteristics shared by the Vietnamese people, including ethnic minority populations, said Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Council of Nationalities Be Truong Thanh at a conference on April 20.

Two ballet dancers Cao Chi Thanh and Pham Ngoc Thanh will attend the Burgundy International Video Dance Festival at Le Breuil, France as they feature in the movie Dream in Hanoi.

Young Vietnamese women across the world are invited to participate in the second Miss World Vietnam, scheduled to take place in Nha Trang from August 10-21.

A conference on preserving and developing traditional festivals, particularly the Giong Festival, in Vietnamese contemporary society opened in Hanoi on April 20.

The News Publisher’s first Vietnam Business Directory containing a wealth of general information about Vietnam’s industries in English came out in Ho Chi Minh city on April 20.

Some 70 members of the staff at the Government Guest House have just completed a ten-day training course run by culinary experts from Belgium.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has approved an additional VND10 billion for improving the national and local press in the 2011-2015 period.

The Cham residing in and around Phan Rang, a coastal town in south-central Vietnam, still preserve seventy-two drum songs used in religious and cultural festivals. In search of the last of the Cham drummers, I took a fact-finding trip to that area.

The Government has approved the project to upgrade Yen Tu forest in the northern Quang Ninh province into a national forest, said local officials on April 18.

A dossier on Truc Lam Zen Buddhism teaching wood blocks kept at a pagoda in the northern province of Bac Giang has been submitted to UNESCO for its recognition as World Documentary Heritage in the Memory of the World Programme, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The number of visitors to this year’s Hung Kings Temple Festival has increased sharply over the past five days, according to the festival organising board.

An exhibition of contemporary Australian arts by Jeremy Donovan and a group of aboriginal artists is being held at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi from April 17-May 12.  

Bac Ninh Festival 2010 opened at the Kinh Bac Cultural Centre on the evening of April 17.  

Around 3000 artefacts, made in different shapes and sizes of Vietnamese dragons, are on display at the Vietnam History Museum in Ho Chi Minh City as of April 17.  

The Click Five, a US boy band and a winner at the MTV Asian Music Awards 2008, has been invited to perform in an MTV Exit programme on an outdoor stage at Military Zone No.7 Stadium on April 17.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has desinated the Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Committee and Tien Phong Newspaper to organise the Miss Vietnam 2010 pageant.

A ceremony was held on April 16 in Hanoi to receive UNESCO’s official certification of Quan ho (love duets) and Ca tru (ceremonial singing) as intangible cultural heritages.

A “Discover Vietnam” programme was launched on April 15 as part of the French Perpignan 2010 exhibition-cum-fair.

Vietnam has asked Japan to continue helping the country preserve the Thang Long Citadel and join hands with Vietnam in activities celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

An exhibition displaying some 50 works of calligraphy in Korean script based on President Ho Chi Minh’s Prison Diary kicked off in Hanoi on April 15. 

A cultural programme entitled “Once in a 1,000 years: an Australian Gift to Hanoi” with a series of free exhibitions, concerts and cultural exchanges kicked off on April 15 in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi. 

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has allowed the central province of Khanh Hoa to host the final round of the Miss World Vietnam 2010 beauty pageant in Nha Trang city. 

Vietnam and Myanmar, who share a number of cultural features, have agreed to more cultural exchanges in performing arts and archaeology.