The concert is co-organized by the Fund for the Support and Encouragement of the Overseas Vietnamese Community, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US RASS Company and the An Ninh The Gioi (World Security) Newspaper.

At the event, audiences will have a cultural exchange with Miss World 2007, Zhang Zhi Li, and Miss World 2008, who will be crowned on December 13, 2008.

Several outstanding overseas Vietnamese individuals and businesses will also be honoured for their great contributions to the development of the Fund.

Audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy performances by well-known overseas Vietnamese singers such as Thanh Ha, Phi Nhung, Ai Van, Linda Trang Dai, Tommy Ngo, musician Hoang Thi Thi as well as famous local artists, including Dam Vinh Hung, Quang Linh, Quang Dung, Ho Ngoc Ha and Mat Troi Moi (New Sun) band.

The VND 1.2 billion programme will be held on an imposing stage emboldened with Vietnamese traditional culture.

All the money rose from ticket sales and donations will go to the Fund for the Support and Encouragement of the Overseas Vietnamese Community.

Le Thieu Ngan, wife of the Vietnamese ambassador to Japan, Nguyen Phu Binh, said that this is the first activity organised this year by the Asia-Pacific Women’s Association to introduce Vietnam’s culture through its unique gastronomy.

The event demonstrated the Vietnamese method of cooking three traditional dishes, including pho (rice noodle soup with beef or chicken), nem ran (spring roll) and banh cuon (rolled cake).

During the next food-based event, the embassy plans to introduce more special dishes from the many different regions of Vietnam.

Japanese artists entertained the local audience with three special dances, while their counterparts from Vietnam won the applause for a series of folk singing performances such as cheo, quan ho, xam and chau van.

The head of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, Aoki Tamotsu said, in the context that folk cultures have fallen into oblivion and faced a threat of deformation in many countries, the festival is expected to help preserve and maintain intangible cultural heritages of both nations.

This is also a valuable chance for the local people to enjoy special folk cultural performances of Japan and Vietnam, he added.

The festival, co-organised by the Embassy of Vietnam in Japan and the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, forms part of the annual International Folk Performance Festival 2009.

Since 1996, the agency has invited art troupes from foreign countries to perform in Japan during the International Folk Performance Festival.

The gala night, entitled “Spring comes to Lang Biang”, tells a legend of Lang Biang mountainous region through songs about the nature and local people’s love.

The participants also took part in song and dance events and drank ruou can (wine drunk out of the jar by bamboo pipes) around cooking fires.

On the occasion, businesses donated more than VND220 million to help repair and build new houses for disadvantaged ethnic minorities’ families.