The world-leading magazine for young women, the Cosmopolitan, first launched in Vietnam on March 15 with the April 2010 issue.

A Vietnamese art troupe will set off to Japan for an exchange on March 27 at the invitation of the Japan-Vietnam Culture Exchange Centre and the Japanese International Exchange Foundation.

Viewers will have the chance to borrow films for their personal enjoyment from the first digital video library, which opened on March 15.

The Writers’ Associations of Vietnam and Laos will continue promoting cooperation and sharing experiences in writing, translating, and training young writers, said the President of the Lao Writers’ Association, Chanthi Duonsavan.

A Tourism and Culture Week will open in Hoi An City, Quang Nam province from March 21-28 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Hoi An Liberation Day.

Hundreds of stars and fans of national cinema joined the 8th Golden Kite awards at the Friendship Palace in Hanoi on March 14 to celebrate the victory of Dung Dot (Don’t burn), which won six Golden Kite awards.

A Vietnamese cultural festival was held at Warwick University in the UK on March 13 by the Vietnamese Students’ Association.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has hosted an Asia Culinary Fair, at which guests and diplomats from many countries had the chance to enjoy Vietnamese food.

The Global Film Initiative featured Vietnamese director Bui Thac Chuyen's film "Adrift" ("Choi voi") at downtown Letelier Theater on the night of March 12.

The Vietnam National Academy of Music (VNAM) and the Southwest Symphony Orchestra is working on a joint cultural project considered the biggest ever in the Vietnam-US relations.

A Francophone Film Festival kicked off in Hanoi on March 12 as part of a national celebration of International Francophone Day in Vietnam.

Guest conductor Gudni Emilsson and pianist Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy will be performing works by Schubert, Mozart and Haydn with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) on March 14 to mark 2010 German Year in Vietnam.

Xam music, usually performed by groups of blind people wandering along the streets of Hanoi, is being revived, performed and introduced to the public by the Vietnam Music Art Development Centre (VMADC).

The British Council will coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam to organise a training course on festival management in Hanoi from March 17-20.

Eighty artists from 16 countries and territories on four continents will take part in the 2010 Hanoi Sound Festival to be held at the Giang Vo Exhibition Centre from March 26-28, dubbed ‘Green Space’.

Russia has published a book covering the 60 years of comprehensive relations between Vietnam and Russia (formerly the Soviet Union) to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The 2010 Grammy Award winner Dobet Gnahore from the Ivory Coast will perform at the Youth Theatre in Hanoi on the evening of March 18.

About 20 artists from the US Southwest Symphony Orchestra will play with Vietnamese artists in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from March 11-21 and then in Pasadena and Los Angeles from April 15-May 4.

World gastronomy festival 2010 will be held in the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau from July 21-25.

A book entitled “Traces of Indian culture in Vietnam” by Indian writer G.Sharma has been made available to the Indian public.

The Ascending Dragon Music Festival will kick off this week in Hanoi with musicians from the Grammy Award-winning Southwest Chamber Music orchestra and members of the Vietnam National Academy of Music (VNAM).

Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City will hold various events to celebrate the 2010 International Francophone Day which is scheduled to run from mid March to early April this year.

A wide range of cultural and sport activities will be held in the northern province of Phu Tho to mark the Hung Kings’ death anniversary and the Hung Temple Festival in 2010.

A celebration of Vietnamese cinema has been planned for next week to honour Vietnamese film talents.

Around 10 provinces will attend the 7th Culture, Sports and Tourism Festival for Ethnic Groups in the Northwestern Region to be held in the northern province of Phu Tho from April 14-17.

Choi voi (Adrift), directed by Bui Thac Chuyen won the Bronze Taiga at the 8th international film festival in Khanty-Mansiysk city, Russia.

The stone steles of doctoral candidates in the Le-Mac dynasties (1442-1779) have been recognized as part of the World’s Documentary Heritage.

A special concert in commemoration of the 200th birthday of talented Polish composer Federich Chopin will start at 8pm on March 12 in the Hanoi Opera House.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has approved the opening of the Thang Long Royal Citadel Relic Site for visitors on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

A new exhibition is taking place at the Bui Gallery in downtown Hanoi to showcase the underlying mysteries on the city.