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.

Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Museum and the Revolutionary History Museum of Guangdong province (China) opened an exhibition in Hanoi on May 18, depicting President Ho Chi Minh’s activities in the Chinese province.

A Swedish literature week opened at the East-West Culture and Language Centre in Hanoi on May 18, premiering a selected collection of Swedish poems in the Vietnamese language.

An online multi-choice contest on Hanoi’s historical milestones and its cultural heritages was launched on May 18 for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese.

Lang Co has officially become the 30th member of the “World’s Most Beautiful Bays” club at a ceremony, which was held under the framework of the club’s 5th conference in Setubal, Spain from May 15-17. 

More than 1,000 Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns and followers attended a ceremony at Phat Tich pagoda in Bac Ninh province, about 60km from Hanoi, to welcome the arrival of the world’s largest Jade Statue of Buddha.

More than 40 international delegates attending the second ASEM Education Ministerial Meeting (ASEMME-2) on May 16 visited Ha Long Bay and voted for the bay as one of seven natural wonders of the world.

Tens of thousands of visitors flocked to the Nui Sam trade centre in Chau Doc town, An Giang province on May 15 to attend the ninth Ba Chua Xu festival.

A cultural exchange programme between Laos and Vietnam was conducted in the capital Vientiane in Laos on May 15 as part of activities to celebrate the late President Ho Chi Minh’s 119th birthday (May 19).  

‘In a City’ is the title of an exhibition about the capital city of Hanoi, which opened on May 15.

Nightingale, a reader’s club for children, made its debut at the Hanoi Library on May 16.

The National Economics University in Hanoi has awarded an honourary doctorate title to the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ahn Byong Man.

Vietnam’s land, people and culture were introduced internationally when the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK attended the 50th World Fair held in London from May 12-13.

Conservationists from central Quang Ngai province have completed restoration of four ceramic jar tombs belonging to the Sa Huynh Culture, which dated back more than two millennia.

The grace of ao dai (traditional long dress of Vietnamese women) shines at a show held by a Vietnamese photographer in Berlin, Germany.

A photo exhibition entitled “Vietnam - 40 years of implementing President Ho Chi Minh’s Testament” opened in Vientiane, Laos, on May 12.

The fourth Quang Nam Heritage Itinerary Festival will be held from June 4-7 to mark the 10th anniversary of UNESCO’s recognition of My Son as a historical site and Hoi An ancient town as world cultural heritage.

More than 350 Norwegian books will be on display at the Vietnam National Library in Hanoi from May 14-20.

Lang Co in central Thua Thien-Hue province, has become the third bay, after Ha Long and Nha Trang bays in Vietnam to be included in the list of the most beautiful bays in the world.

‘Dung Dot’ (Don’t Burn), a feature film directed and written by Dang Nhat Minh portrays the life of a heroic army doctor and the love she had for her country and people, will be screened at the second Asia-Europe film festival in Hanoi from May 15-22.

Vietnam’s Nhon Nghia Duong troupe has won a silver medal at the ongoing World Lion and Dragon Dance Championship in Shanghai. 

The Vietnam Cinematography Department, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has liaised with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organise the 2nd Asia-Europe Festival on May 15-22 in Hanoi.

The US band Ozomatti-winner of three Grammy awards is currently on a visit to Vietnam from May 11-15 as part of a programme of culture exchanges assisted by the US Department of State and the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam will host the second Asian-European Education Ministerial Meeting (ASEM) for the first time on May 13, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MoET).

The construction companies have finished putting up a marble statue of a monument to the national hero Quang Trung on Ban mountain in the former imperial city of Hue.

Vietnamese handicrafts and cuisine have attracted thousands of visitors at the Ottawa Tulip Festival in Canada from May 1-18.

Elan Q. Nguyen, a student of Vietnamese origin who is studying at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton, Florida is one of the 141 US Presidential scholarship recipients for 2009.

An art exhibition opened in Hanoi on May 9 to showcase literature, newspapers, photos and fine art about the late President Ho Chi Minh.

President Ho Chi Minh, General Vo Nguyen Giap and Vietnam’s victory over the French colonialists at Dien Bien Phu are topics of three newly-published books in Thailand.