The Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology will organise a series of interesting events to celebrate the Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays from February 19 to 21, promising an enjoyable experience combining traditional images, sounds and foods of Viet Nam’s diverse people and regions.

British cruise ship Spirit of Adventure docked at Saigon port in Ho Chi Minh City on Feb. 8, bringing 800 passengers and crewmen to Vietnam. Upon arrival, the visitors toured the city, watched water-puppet performances, shopped in Ben Thanh market and visited craft workshops.

An ecotourism complex in Ho Chi Minh City dedicated to Vietnam’s 20 traditional crafts will open its doors to visitors February 14, the first day of the Lunar New Year.

The year of cultural diplomacy 2009 was deployed strongly and comprehensively, contributing greatly to the foreign relations programme set out by the Party and State. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem wrote these comments in an article entitled “Milestones in the Year of Cultural Diplomacy 2009.”

A plan for a grand ceremony on the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi that has been submitted to the Government for approval will be one of the most glorious cultural and historical programmes in Vietnam’s history.

The first ever national fruit festival will be held in southern Tien Giang province from April 19 to 24, authorities from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province told the media in HCM City on Feb. 7.

People may be amazed when seeing a little girl in a red neckerchief, Phung Thi Trinh, leading a group of foreign tourists through the ruins of the Cham religious site of My Son, a World Cultural Heritage Site in Duy Xuyen District, in the central province of Quang Nam.

PetroVietnam Finance Corporation (PVFC) in collaboration with The Tan Ha Noi (New Ha Noi Arts) Company has inaugurated the first phase of the “Ceramic road along the Red River” (Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural) project.