Dinh Khac Dien, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the province has prepared almost 4,000 hotel rooms, including over 1,800 of international standards, to welcome artists and tourists on this occasion.

The organising board has also established a press centre, capable of accommodating hundreds of journalists who come to cover the event.

Taxi drivers and volunteers have undergone professional training to make the showcase of Vietnamese traditional martial arts a success, said Mr Dien.

Belgium is among the strong delegations, which will bring to the event a new school related to water.

Its water martial art was founded in Brussels, Belgium, by a Vietnamese Belgian named Huynh Chieu Duong, based on daily life of fishermen in Vietnam.

The school now has a 120-strong membership, of them 100 are Belgian. The water martial art is expected to officially join in the Vietnam Traditional Martial Art Federation by late July, when a delegation will come to Vietnam to attend the Tay Son-Binh Dinh Festival.

Performance venues include the New World Hotel, the Caravelle Hotel, the Park Hyatt Sai Gon Hotel, the Sheraton Sai Gon Hotel, the Parkland Country Club and Gloria Jeans Coffee.

Jingle Bells, Feliz Navidad, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and Winter Wonderland are just some of the carols that are adding to Christmas cheer in some of the city’s most luxurious venues.

The Thang Long Vocational School operates under the auspices of Sai Gon Children’s Charity, a non-governmental organization that provides scholarships and job placement and assists in building schools.

The choir, in return for vocational training that it receives year-round, accepts no payments for its performances.

An extra show is scheduled on December 27, 2008.