Hanoi days will be held in Moscow from July 16-23 to expand cooperation opportunities and strengthen friendship between Hanoi and Moscow.

Young Vietnamese women have been encouraged to compete in a contest next month to select new faces for the Miss Universe 2008 beauty pageant scheduled for early June Nha Trang city, south central Khanh Hoa province.

The Thap Ba (Goddess Ponagar Tower) festival opened on April 26 in Khanh Hoa province’s Nha Trang city, drawing the participation of thousands of people from surrounding areas and other localoties in Ninh Thuan, Phu Yen and Dak Lak provinces.

The carnival proceeded from 4pm to 5.30pm on April 26 in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh province which was later lit up by an impressive firework display in 30 minutes.

Making a presentation about taboos of the Vietnamese people, Yamamoto Nana from the Hanoi National University won the first prize in an eloquence contest in Vietnamese held for the Japanese in Hanoi on April 27.

A Vietnamese culture week entitled “Charming Vietnam” kicked off in Genting city, Malaysia on April 26.

At least nine events will be held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the week beginning April 28 to mark South Africa ’s Day of Freedom, which falls on April 27.

A tourist week celebrating traditional trades and leading up to Hanoi’s 1,000th anniversary was launched at the Thang Long Royal Citadel on April 27.

An exhibition featuring 104 ancient artifacts of the Champa culture in the south central coastal province of Binh Dinh opened at the Vietnam History Museum in Hanoi on April 25.

The Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort and Spa is sponsoring the fourth annual Kite Competition to promote local tourism and culture. As many as 130 participants from Hoi An, Da Nang and other localities are expected to participate in the event scheduled for May 19.

A collection of close to 1,000 unique artifacts from the holy land of Cat Tien in Central Highland Lam Dong province is currently on show in Ho Chi Minh City.

The programme, which will be held on May 1 at Hanoi Friendship Cultural Palace aims to honour outstanding individuals and units who have actively contributed to the national construction and defence.

A photo exhibition on Vietnamese historical sites opened at the Vietnam Revolution Museum in Hanoi on April 23.

Fashion designer Si Hoang, in cooperation with Me Yeu Be magazine and VietGen Company, will organise an "ao dai" designing contest for little children to mark International Children's Day on June 1.

The Spanish embassy and Vietnam-Spain Friendship association held a ceremony at the Hanoi National Library on April 23 to introduce Spain’s cultural programmes and donate nearly 180 books of Spainish contemporary literature.

The Ministry of Education and Training has introduced “The world biggest lesson” into 64 cities and provinces nationwide to mark the Global Action Week for Education (April 21-27).

Ha Long Bay has remained on top of the 10 world natural wonders with a strong performance in the rankings over the last two months. It has many advantages to be listed among 21 world natural wonders in the second round.

A special music programme in celebration of South Vietnam Liberation Day (April 30) and May Day (May 1) will take place at 8pm in the Hanoi Opera House and will be broadcast live on the Hanoi Radio and Television Station during these two days.

An exhibition featuring the most outstanding works by world-renowned Finish architect and designer Alvar Aalto (1898 – 1976) opened on April 22.

An Dinh Palace in the former imperial city of Hue re-opened to the public on April 22 following the complete restoration of its wall paintings and decorations.

A series of colourful and diverse activities will take place in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to mark European integration day (May 9), announced the delegation of the European Commission to Vietnam at a press briefing in Hanoi on April 22.

To mark the 444th anniversary of English playwright William Shakespeare’s birthday, 65 theatre companies from 35 countries will perform a selection of his masterpieces on April 23.

More than 100 photos featuring the breathtaking beauty of Japanese cherry flowers are on display at an exhibition on Trang Tien street, Hanoi.

Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay has again topped the list of 77 candidates for the world’s seven natural wonders poll at www.new7wonders.com after being removed from the list on April 14.

A three-day folk festival is being held at Den Do (Do Temple) in northern Bac Ninh province to mark the 998th anniversary of the enthronement of King Ly Thai To.

The film “The Rebel”, representing Vietnamese cinema for the first time at the Far East Film Festival, hits the screen from April 18-23 in Udine city, Italy.

The Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival 2008 was officially launched at Dam Sen Water Park on April 18 with the aim of promoting the city’s image as a tourist destination.

The Chief of the executive board of the US Rass Trading Corp., Hoang Kieu, donated over VND7 billion to a charity fund to help poor families in the south central province of Khanh Hoa and other localities as part of a special concert.

Various activities will take place during the “European Days in Vietnam” 2008, due to be launched on April 29 to mark Europe Day (May 9) following the successes of the similar events from 2004 to 2007.

A tourism week, entitled “Thang Long-Hanoi Craft Villages, Craft Streets”, will begin at the Hanoi Ancient Citadel from April 29.