The Hue Festival 2006 will be organised more professionally, socially and profitably, with a view to becoming an attractive trademark in Vietnam as well as in the world.

A charity music programme was held in Hanoi on January 22 to support disabled children and orphans.

Vietnam’s puppetry is known for two main genres: stage puppetry and water puppetry. Stage puppetry has several forms such as hand and rod puppets from Đong Minh in Hai Phong port city and Te Tieu in Ha Tay province.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem has stressed the need increase people’s education qualifications and train human resources for national development, particularly in ethnic-inhabited areas, thereby contributing to reducing hunger and poverty in these areas.

Two French higher education centres will be established at the Hanoi National University and the Ho Chi Minh City National University, according to the French Embassy.

Tet Viet 2006 officially opened at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi on Thursday with the participation of more than 200 booths.

A joint tourism programme among Yen Bai, Lao Cai and Phu Tho provinces called “Tracing the roots 2006” will begin at the Cultural and Labour Centre in Viet Tri city, Phu Tho province on February 3. Festival tourism will be the main theme of the programme this year.

Archaeologists have found artifacts believed to belong to the Ly (1009-1225) and Tran (1225-1400) dynasties at the Hoa Lam Vien excavation site in Mai Lam commune of Hanoi’s outlying Dong Anh district.

The film Mua len trau (Buffalo boy) by overseas Vietnamese director Nguyen Vo Nghiem Minh has won the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year award at the Palm Springs Film Festival in the US.

The Guinness world records committee has officially asked the Ministry of Post and Telematics to make a file on the collection of ''Vietnamese ethnic community'' stamps for consideration and recognition by Guinness, said Deputy Minister Tran Duc Lai on January 17.

A ceremony to award prizes for the international writing contest entitled “Thang Long-Hanoi-Your Destination” for foreigners in 2005 was held at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi on January 17.

A local person in Thai Nguyen province has presented 169 Dong Duong banknotes to the Thai Nguyen Museum.

The 2006 Spring Fair began at the Giang Vo Exhibition and Trade Fair Centre in Hanoi on January 16 with a diverse range of high-quality commodities displayed in 950 pavilions – the largest of its kind so far.

Swedish experts and the Vietnam Institute of Musicology will co-operate in collecting folk music under a Vietnam-Sweden cultural co-operation programme for sustainable development.

The Young Global Citizens Camp (YGCC) opened in the Philippines on January 15 with an arts and cultural exchange programme for participating youth delegations.

“I value Vietnamese media agencies for their efforts to establish bureaux overseas to directly gather information in resident countries and promote Vietnam’s image among international friends,” said Nguyen Khoa Diem, head of the Party Central Committee’s Ideology and Culture Commission in an interview granted to VOV.

Young Vietnamese pianist Luu Hong Quang has won a special prize at the International Piano Competition in Asia, which was held in Tokyo, Japan between January 9 and 12.

An awards ceremony for the 11th Mai Vang (Yellow Apricot) Awards was held at Phan Dinh Phung Sporting Hall in Ho Chi Minh City on January 15 with the participation more nearly 150 artists and 5,000 spectators.

For the first time Vietnamese researchers have uncovered three collections of genealogical epics of M’Nong, Ba Na and Se Dang ethnic groups in the Central Highlands (Tay Nguyen). Each collection comprises around 100 works and is considered among the longest in the world.

A photo exhibition entitled "Another Vietnam" opened in Tokyo on January 14 by Japan's Asahi newspaper with the assistance of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, Vietnam News Agency, the Japanese Photography Association and the Association of Japanese Professional Photographers.

The Ministry of Information and Culture of Laos on January 13 held a ceremony in Vientiane for the premiere of the Vietnamese film Cau Ong Tuong (The Elephant Bridge).

The Thai ethnic minority group’s culture is closely associated with a variety of distinctive art forms and musical instruments such as the Xoe dance, the Pi flute, the Tinh guitar, and especially the Han Khuong performance, where men and women exchange love songs.

Archaeologists have found architectural traces of a royal palace believed to belong to the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400) at an area adjacent to the Tran temple in the Red River delta province of Nam Dinh.

The 2006 Spring Fair will be held from January 16-26 at the Vietnam Exhibition and Fair Centre in Hanoi under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Hanoi People’s Committee.

A cuisine, craft street and craft village festival will be held at the Thong Nhat (Unification Park) in Hanoi from March 30 to April 2, 2006.

Jewelry, one of the leading girl bands in the Republic of Korea (RoK), has arrived in Vietnam to participate in a cultural exchange and music programme, which will kick off in Ho Chi Minh City on January 14.

Four painters, Truong Quoc Lap, Trinh Quang Vu, Pham Tam and Nguyen Tan, with assistance from the Hanoi Industrial Fine Arts College have successfully restored an ancient painting collection on Thang Long-Hanoi.

“Vietnamese Tet (Lunar New Year Festival) 2006” will be held at Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium from January 19 to 25, featuring trade and cultural activities.

Archaeologists have discovered a wide range of objects, including bricks, tiles, decorations, luxury utensils of royal families in the ruins of buildings from the Tran dynasty.