The virtue of promotional activities for the celebration has been seen through changes in the awareness of

A number of nations worldwide and embassies in Vietnam expressed their eagerness to participate in the event, he said, adding that localities across the country have aggressively joined in such national activities.

Currently, 26 out of 34 key infrastructure facilities have been completed, including the refurbishment and preservation of King Le Thai To’s statue, along with the Hanoi Library and Cach Mang Thang Tam (August Revolutionary) Square.

More than 100 zitherists played traditional music while famous music teachers like Pham Thuy Hoan and Hai Phuong spoke about the instrument’s long history in Viet Nam.

The festival organisers, the HCM City Labour Cultural Palace and the Sound of the Homeland Club, hoped the performances will help young visitors understand why the zither or dan tranh, a traditional 16-stringed instrument, has remained popular for so long.

The opening ceremony saw Tra My of the Ha Noi National Music Institute and Hong Nga, Thu Ha, and Minh Phuong of the Hue Music Institute performing folk music eulogising love and peace.

Music teachers Hoan and Phuong, also two of HCM City’s leading zitherists - who played a role in the development of the instrument - also performed.

Artists from the central provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Khanh Hoa, and Quy Nhon played nha nhac (royal music).

The festival was held to mark the 35th anniversary of the city-based Sound of the Homeland Club.

“We should preserve, popularise, and develop our traditional culture and music, including the zither, among the young generation,” Hoan, who is also the club’s chief, said.

The zither is a traditional Asian stringed instrument and is known as dan tranh in Viet Nam, koto in Japan, kayagum and komungo in Korea, and guzheng in Singapore.

Kayagum and komungo are played with the fingertips while the others, including dan tranh, are played with plectrums.

To learn more about traditional Vietnamese music, visit the club at the Labour Cultural House, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 3.

The Danang City expects to attract about 60,000 people, of which 20,000 from outside the city for International Fireworks Competition 2010 which will be organized on March 27 and 28 in the city.

With the theme Huyen thoai song Han(Legend of Han River), this year’s International Fireworks Competition is one of seven country’s major cultural events to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi and will have competition between 5 teams from Portugal, the US, Japan, France and Vietnam. During the two nights, each team will perform for 20 minutes with music.

On this occasion, the city will also organize a parade of flower floats, a Vietnamese craft village festival, a kite-flying competition, an exhibition of embroidered pictures, a photo exhibition on international fireworks, and an exhibition named “Danang 2010 – a new stage.”

Organising board plans to issue 25,000 tickets priced at VND200,000 each for the competition. Tran Quang Thanh, Deputy Director of municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that buyers have registered to buy half of the total of tickets.

Because the big number of tourists will come to Danang for International Fireworks Competition, most of the city’s hotels were fully booked so tour operators must arrange accommodation for their guests in nearby Hoi An, Chan May or Lang Co.

Thanh said the city had met with Vietnam Airlines to discuss increase of flights to and from the city when number of passengers goes up.

He also said that after this year’s competition, Danang would organize the event every two years.

Associate Prof. Le Van Toan, Director of Vietnam National Music Academy told Hanoi Moi Newspaper on April 2 that after more than six months of building, the compilation group has been able to send in the dossier ahead of the deadline on March 31.

As planned, the UNESCO Secretariat will review the dossier, and UNESCO will conduct verifications in October.

Hat Xoan, a kind of folk song of northern Phu Tho Province, is believed to have been created more than 500 years ago. It is not only popular in 18 communes long the Lo River in Phu Tho Province, but it is also sung in midland and northern regions.

Hat Xoan has some similarities with the lullaby. Like Quan Ho, many of the songs are about love, but it is also a kind of folk music that praises a village genie.

There are many forms of Hat Xoan: duet, group singing accompanied by several kinds of dances.

Xoan Festivals are often held in spring in village temples. On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the artists often sing it at the Hung Temple Festival.