The New York Philharmonic (NYP), one of the oldest and most world-renowned symphony orchestras in the US, will perform for the first time in Vietnam in September as part of its tour of Asia, said the orchestras musical director.

Exhibitions of the pottery of the Cham community opened in Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province on June 4.

A traditional craft village fair opened in Dien Ban district in the central province of Quang on June 4.

The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) will organise a grand procession of relics of the Lord Buddha and holy monks to Quan Su pagoda in Hanoi and Bai Dinh pagoda in northern Ninh Binh province on June 6.

The Performance Art Agency has agreed to allow supermodel Vo Hoang Yen to be Vietnam’s representative at Miss Universe 2009 to be held on Paradise Island, Bahamas on August 23.

The world’s most prestigious competition of the hospitality industry, the George Baptise Cup, ended in the former imperial city of Hue on May 30 with Kocemba Jacob from Denmark bringing home the first prize.

On May 29, the People’s Committee of Hoan Kiem district opened an exhibition to promote traditional Vietnamese pottery products made in handicraft villages nationwide.

The band Tetrafide will feature a gala performance, “In Rhythm With Nature”  at the Hanoi Opera House on May 30 to celebrate World Environment Day, June 5.

Da Nang’s Nguyen Dac Xuan Thao was presented with the 38th Universal Postal Union’s letter writing competition first prize during an award ceremony on May 28.

Archaeologists have affirmed that the two newly found sets of stone percussion instrument in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong date back somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 years.

Four students from Israel’s Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts will perform in Vietnam from May 31 to June 6 as part of the Israel-Vietnam cultural cooperation programme.

Vietnamese people of all ages over the world are eligible for an online quiz about the history and culture of the world’s 1000-year-old cities.

The Beatles’ Australian tribute band arrived in Hanoi on May 26 as a stop on their The Beatles Restrospective tour from May 29-31.

Four students from Israel’s Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts will perform in Vietnam from May 31 to June 6 as part of the Israel-Vietnam cultural cooperation programme.

Vietnam and Russia should promote information exchange and strengthen cooperation in the field of culture, said Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh.

Miss world 2008, Ksenia Shukinova starts her journey across Vietnam as part of the charity programme tilted “Footprint of charity 2009” on May 27.

Around 100 unique flute kites will take to the skies at a traditional kite festival to be held in Hai Boi commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi on May 28.  

Vietnam is attending the 51st Tong Tong Festival from May 21 to June 1 in the Netherlands.

Multi-award-winning photographer Le Hong Linh has once again been placed among the world’s best photographers by the Photographic Society of America (PSA) in the latest issue of its PSA Journal.

Ha Long Bay made it to the top 25 of the most wonderful seascapes in the world on the official website of Newopenworld (NOW) on May 25.

The inaugural International Gong Festival will be held sometime between July and September in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai.

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology on May 30-31 will organise a programme entitled “Vietnamese children and international friends”, which aims to promote cultural exchange between ethnic groups in Vietnam and other countries.

The Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology is hosting from May 22 an exhibition of 50 black and white photos of President Ho Chi Minh during his lifetime in China.

The book “Techniques used by the An Nam people” is a social study on the An Nam people in the north of Vietnam in the early 20th century, written by French writer Henri Oger, has been reprinted.

A photographic exhibition portraying the Russian city of Vladivostok opened in Lam Son Park, District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City on May 21 to welcome a delegation from the City Mayor’s Office to visit Vietnam.

An exhibition of Vietnam’s propaganda art opened on May 20 at the Vietnamese Cultural Centre in France, drawing crowds of visitors.

A 36kg-bronze drum, 40 cm high and 60cm in diameter, was discovered in the northern province of Thanh Hoa on May 20.

Construction of the Lien Hoa tower, believed to be the largest in Vietnam, at a cost of VND12 billion has started at a pagoda in My Tho City in the southern province of Tien Giang.

Pop singer Minh Quan, who is also an artist on Radio the Voice of Vietnam, will represent Vietnam at a music festival to be held at the Cultural Centre in Bangkok on May 22.

The 2009 Thac Ba Discovery festival will be held from June 26-30 by the Yen Bai Provincial People’s Committee in an area near the Thac Ba Hydroelectric power plant, the first and biggest hydropower project during the anti-US resistance war.