An Israeli 9-year-old pianist, Tom Zalmanov, will give an impressive performance of famous music pieces by W.A Mozart, L.v. Beethoven and F. Schubert in Ho Chi Minh City on September 6.

The Hue Preservation Centre has asked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to recognize the Hue royal festivals and dances as masterpieces of the intangible cultural heritage of humankind.

The Nghinh Ong Festival, also known as the Guan Kung Greeting Celebration, will kick off in Phan Thiet city of southern Binh Thuan province on August 19.

A project seeking artists for a fusion of hip-hop, traditional and modern dance and folk music was launched this week in Hanoi.

The Giai Dieu Mua Thu (Autumn Melody) concert programme is scheduled to take place at the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatoire from August 15-17.

With the theme of “Solidarity for the Development and Preservation of Traditional Cultural Identity”, the festival opened at the Exhibition and Fair Centre in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho on August 12.

Young Vietnamese pianist Luu Hong Quang beat out 20 other contenders on August 10 to win first prize at the Piano Recital Awards in Australia.

Netherlands-based company Urban Solutions has granted 41,630 EUROS to a project to increase the effectiveness of management at the Hue heritage site in the central province of Thua Thien - Hue, according to the Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, Phung Phu.

Fifteen beautiful girls from the North of the country will be taking part in the final round of the 2008 Miss Vietnam beauty contest being held in Hoi An ancient town from August 19-31.

Documentations of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel have been completed for UNESCO’s recognition of it as world cultural heritage.

The Vietnam-Japan cultural exchange festival will be held in Hoi An ancient town, central Quang Nam province, on August 15 and 16.

Frank Gerke of Germany has spent years translating Vietnamese literary works into his native language.

Republic of Korea (RoK) Publishing House Woong Jin has released a book on Vietnam’s late President Ho Chi Minh called “Stories about Uncle Ho.”

A contemporary art exhibition entitled “TransPop: Korea Vietnam Remix” opened at the Galerie Quynh and San Art in Ho Chi Minh City on August 7.

The innovative Japanese painter Kato Shojiro recently opened an exhibition of his works at the Tu Do Gallery in Ho Chi Minh City where he has been studying Vietnam’s landscapes and traditional cultural values.

Two agreements on tertiary education cooperation between Vietnamese and Swiss universities were signed in Hanoi on August 5 in the presence of visiting Swiss President Pascal Couchepin and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan.

Seven records have been set during the 2008 Tay Son-Binh Dinh Festival, which concluded in the south-central province of Binh Dinh on August 3.

Wining over 36 contestants, Phan Thi Ngoc Diem was crowned 2008 Miss Vietnam Tourism on the final night of a beauty pageant, which took place at Phan Dinh Phung Competition House in Ho Chi Minh City on August 2.

A grand memorial service was dedicated to Vietnam’s National Hero Nguyen Hue in the central province of Binh Dinh on August 1, as part of the ongoing Tay Son - Binh Dinh Festival.

The central Khanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee in south central Vietnam met on July 31 to discuss the organisation of the 2009 Nha Trang Sea Festival slated for June 6-14 next year.

An exhibition of wedding dresses, co-organised by Babi Cultural Service Trading Co. Ltd. and the Young Fashion Magazine, was held at the Phu Tho sports hall in Ho Chi Minh City from July 31 to August 3.

Teenagers and students will be provided with a lively and colourful art and musical festival entitled Art Port ’08 scheduled to start at 8.00 PM at the Giang Vo Exhibition Centre in Hanoi on August 2.

Vietnam will speed up documentation on the history of bilateral ties between the country and its two neighbouring countries, Laos and Cambodia.

A number of special Vietnamese dishes were introduced to US friends at an event highlighting Vietnamese food and drinks organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in the US on July 29.

An additional 216 ancient tombs, including more than 200 jar tombs, have been found in the central province of Thua Thien Hue.

Pianist Tran Ngoc Nguyen Trinh, who recently completed training in Russia, will perform on August 1 at the HCM City Conservatory of Music.

Diep Tu Chau, a Vietnamese student born in 1989, has been presented with the US President’s certificate of merit for her excellent achievement after graduating from a high school in the US.

Central Thua Thien-Hue province will invest more than VND76 billion in the first phase of the project on restoration of the Dong Khanh Tomb, part of Hue ancient capital’s relic system.

Ten Vietnamese will join students from across the region in the “Youth Camp for Asia’s Future 2008”, the third of its kind, in the Republic of Korea (RoK) from July 29 to August 18.

A photo exhibition on Vietnamese Agent Orange/Dioxin victims was open in Japan’s port city of Yokohama from June 28 to July 26.