The concert featured not only traditional music but also some of composer Nguyen Thien Dao’s latest music works.

Vietnamese folk music conveys many cultural characteristics, which raise Vietnamese spirits, said Bill Kimsey, a US enthusiast, who has a special feeling towards Vietnam’s traditional music, land and people.

Dan bau musician Tra My felt really touched as she was warmly received by the audience at her first performance in the US capital.

“I want to tell Vietnamese people overseas of the love I have for my country and to foreigners who will be warmly welcomed if they visit Vietnam,’ she said

The performance was held by the Vietnam Institute of Culture and Education in co-ordination with the Vietnamese Embassy.

The host’s gold prizes went to the Thang Long Puppetry Theatre’s water puppetry programme in celebration of the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre’s “Andersen” item based on three stories of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, including “The Brave Tin Soldier”, “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Little Mermaid”.

The two remaining gold prizes belonged to Singaporean and Indonesian troupes.

The Organising Board also presented 12 gold and seven silver prizes to the most outstanding artists and three prizes to the best directors.

The six-day festival, organised by the Department of Performing Arts under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attracted 12 foreign troupes and five from Vietnam, including the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre, the Thang Long Puppetry Theatre and the puppetry troupes from Hai Phong city, Dak Lak province and Ho Chi Minh City.

Ninety-nine remainder drums, which are 60cm in diameter and 48cm in height and decorated with dragon patterns, are being also cast in Thanh Hoa, which is believed to be the home of the casting of bronze drums in Vietnam.

The entire 100 bronze drums are expected to be completed by mid August. They will be on display at the Literature Temple in Hanoi and will be played only once at the grand ceremony for the millennium anniversary in October.

Then, the largest drum will stay at the Literature Temple and the 99 remainders will be presented to 63 cities and provinces and outstanding organisations nationwide.

The performers from nearly 27 countries throughout the world brought hundreds of unique shows to the festival. More than 5,500 local artists, actors and actresses, also took part in the event, which saw 668 journalists from 73 local media agencies and 32 reporters from 22 international media agencies.

The Hue Festival 2010 welcomed over 3 million people, including 130,000 tourists. More than 6 million people visited the festival’s website while it was running.