The Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism made the said-above announcement on January 26.

The result of the second assessment round will be informed in June and the result of the final round will be announced at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritages in Kenya in November.

The Giong Festival is held from the 6th day to the 12th day of the 4th lunar month every year at Phu Dong (or Giong) Village in Gia Lam District, Hanoi, as well as in some other regions of the capital including Phu Ninh Village in Soc Son District and Xuan Dinh Village of Tu Liem District. The main festival day is on the 9th day of the 4th lunar month.

The festival is original, because it commemorates a legendary character that ancient Vietnamese turned into an immortal saint.

The festival celebrates Saint Giong, a legendary Vietnamese hero who fought against the northern invaders.

The legend says that once upon a time, a poor woman from Giong Village went to the rice paddy and saw a giant step. Curious, she stepped onto the step; not long after, she discovered she was pregnant and then gave birth to a son she named Giong. As a three-year old, the boy still didn’t know how to speak and never laughed. But when the country was invaded, the boy suddenly began to speak and asked the King to give him an iron horse, an iron suit of armour and an iron rod, so that he could fight against the invaders. He then rose up to become a giant.

After having fought triumphantly the enemy, he and his horse went to Soc Mountain. On the mountain top, he removed his armour and flew into the sky with his horse. This festival is considered one more testament to the indomitable spirit of the Vietnamese nation when pitted against foreign invaders.

Festival performances recount Saint Giong’s celebrated battles as his troops squared off against the aggressors, symbolised by crowds of people from four communes in Phu Dong Village.

The festival also involves young boys and girls acting out the performance’s most important parts, after having practiced for the festival all year.

At the meeting, the VNAT asked the EU to give advice to Vietnam in working out tourism development strategies, including the planning for key tourism sites.

It also suggested the second phase focus on brand building, promotional campaigns and human resource training for the tourism sector.

Present at the opening ceremony were the Vietnamese Ambassador in France, Le Kinh Tai, the Major of the Perpignan, Jean-Marc Pujol and large number of local people and visitors.

Ambassador Tai praised the active assistance the city has given to the Vietnamese delegation during their preparations for the event.

He said this is an excellent opportunity for Vietnam to promote it’s imagine to French friends, particularly as it is busy preparing for the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Ha Noi.

Ambassdor Tai added that Perpignan has large potential for cooperation with Vietnam and could help the nation to access southern Europe and the Mediterranean regions.

For his part, the city’s Major thanked Vietnam for taking part in the event as proof of growing ties between the two countries as well as between the two cultures.

Visitors were entertained with folk songs and water puppetry show and invited to taste several of the country’s special dishes.

This is the first time that Vietnam has attended one of the most important events in France’s southern region. Last year, the week long similar event drew the participation of nearly 50,000 visitors.

The drums, 60cm in diameter and 48cm in height, are in Dong Son District, which is believed to be the home of the casting of bronze drums in

The 100 drums 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 they will be presented to 63 cities and provinces and outstanding enterprises nationwide. One of the drums will be auctioned to help poor children and children who are victims of Agent Orange.