An exhibition entitled “Handmade and Primitive Weapons - the Unique Military Cultural Heritage of Vietnam” will open at the Vietnam Military History Museum (VMHM) in Hanoi on September 1.

Over 100 posters featuring the late President Ho Chi Minh are on display in Laos’ capital city of Vientiane.

The capital city of Hanoi has begun a project to conserve the Co Loa citadel, which is Vietnam’s oldest citadel, dating back to the Stone Age.

The National Political Publishing House and the Central Committee for Information and Education have announced a range of publications to mark the 40th anniversary of implementing the testament of late President Ho Chi Minh (1969-2009) and the 64th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day.

A literature & arts exhibition and a dancing festival opened in Hanoi on August 25 to celebrate the 64th anniversary of National Day, on September 2 and the 80th anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the run up to the 100th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The organising board of the 2009 Vietnam Star Securities Centre (VSSC) programme has announced a contest for “SuperStar” title to join an Asian showbiz training course.

The third national festival of Then singing and Tinh zither performances opened in the northern province of Bac Kan on August 24 as part of various cultural activities celebrating major national events and the 60th anniversary of Bac Kan’s Liberation Day.

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan and other leaders from the Party, State and army visited General Vo Nguyen Giap on August 24 to wish him a happy 99th birthday.

A Vietnamese cultural festival was held in the Taiwan’s largest city of Taipei on August 23 with the participation of over 1,000 Vietnamese workers and the municipal authorities. 

The Vietnam National Institute of Music’s youth orchestra has been invited to participate in the Beethoven International Music Festival, which will be held in Germany from September 4 to October 3.

The Ordos music and dance troupe from Inner Mongolia in China will perform in Vietnam from September 2-5.  

The Vietnam record book centre on August 23 officially included a bronze drum which was made by artisan Le Van Bay in Thieu Trung village, Thieu Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province.

About 70 black and white photos of Long Bien Bridge taken by US photographer Douglas Jardine are on display at an exhibition in Hanoi. 

Vietnamese photographers have won seven medals, including one gold at the fifth international photo contest, which was held in Vietnam.

The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism has approved a proposal put forth by the Ho Chi Minh Museum and its Department of International Relations concerning the casting of Ho Chi Minh’s statue to display in Yagoon, Myanmar.

The National Cultural Heritage Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism signed the minutes of a meeting with the Asian-Pacific Cultural Centre on August 20 concerning technical assistance in researching, restoring and preserving wooden architectural heritage.

Ha Long Bay has unexpectedly risen from 12th to 4th position in the list of the World’s 28 Natural Wonders.

Muslims from the Cham ethnic group in Ninh Thuan province will celebrate Ramadan in the 1430th year of the Muslim calendar from August 19-21.

A stone stele, chiselled with ancient Champa script, was unearthed in the central province of Phu Yen, and believed to be a very significant archaeological find.

Japan will provide nearly US$10 million to build a replica of Hue Citadel’s Can Chanh Palace from 2010-2015, which was destroyed during the war in 1947.

A delegation from the Hanoi National Conservatoire attending the International Music Contest in Jakarta, Indonesia, has won 4 first, 1 second and 3 third prizes.

The Asian American Association has received 120 typical Vietnamese antiques for exhibition in the US.

The Vietnamese Literature and Art Association in Russia on August 17 celebrated its 15th anniversary.

A contest on writing and popularising literature, art and press works on the late President Ho Chi Minh’s moral examples and collecting documents and objects about his revolutionary life in Russia was launched in Moscow on August 16.

Veteran author Cao Duy Son’s short story collection, Ngoi Nha Xua Ben Suoi (Old House by the Spring) has won nomination for the Southeast Asian Writers Award for Vietnam this year.

The 7th “Vietnam-Japan Cultural Exchange Days” festival opened in Hoi An, in the central province of Quang Nam on August 14.

Cloud covered Lung Cu commune in Dong Van district of Ha Giang province, Vietnam’s Northernmost point. The commune has a small hamlet, Lo Lo Chai, with only 81 households and slightly more than 300 people. Seen from the Lung Cu flag pole, the hamlet is so tiny, it fits within one’s peripheral view.

Conductor Dang Chau Anh and four members of the Vietnam Children’s Choir Sol Art will join the Voices without Borders (VWB) on the occasion of the international youth choir festival held in Petoskey, Michigan, the US from August 28-September 2.

The 2009 Hello Vietnam Festival will be held in Yoyogi park in Tokyo, Japan on September 19-20.

Two coffins estimated to be 1,000 years old were discovered recently in the central province of Quang Tri ’s Gio Linh district.