NEW YORK — Viet Nam's Saint Giong Festival has been put among 47 nominations for recognition as world intangible cultural heritage by the UNESCO.
The list was announced by the UNESCO on Tuesday.
At present, 166 heritages of 77 countries have been recognised as world intangible cultural heritages. Viet Nam has a number of heritages in this list, including Hue royal court music, Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) gong culture, and the Bac Ninh love duet singing.
The Saint Giong festival is a unique traditional event in Viet Nam, held annually from the 6th-12th of the fourth lunar month in many places in Viet Nam to commemorate the legendary national hero who grew from a three-year-old child into a giant overnight to help drive out invaders from the country.
The 9th of the fourth lunar month is the major day for the biggest Saint Giong festival at Phu Dong Village in Gia Lam District of Ha Noi where this legendary hero was alleged to have been born.
The festival is a chance for visitors to watch the performance of traditional rituals and artistic activities which have been handed down from generation to generation.
Vietnamese male model in international beauty contest
HA NOI — Hoang Gia Ngoc is up against 50 other male models at the Manhunt International 2010 beauty contest in Taiwan that opened yesterday and runs until November 22.
Ngoc, 24, is an emerging model in Viet Nam. He is 1.84m tall and was the first runner-up at the Seahorse Model 2009 competition. He also took the silver prize at Viet Nam Supermodel this year.
This year, the winner of the Mr Internet Popularity prize will automatically qualify for the final on November 20 in Taichung, Taiwan.
Rare Buddhist robes arrive from Kushinagar temple
HA NOI — Vietnamese Buddhists on Tuesday took part in a procession to celebrate the arrival in Ha Noi of three robes fromIndia's Kushinagar Buddhist Temple.
The robes were used to cover a gold leaf statue of the Buddha. The robes are made of rare silk and are 10m long.
The robes will be used to decorate the biggest jade Buddha statue in Viet Nam, which is being made by the Than Chau Ngoc Viet Company.
The 3m statue will weigh 20 tonnes, making it one of the largest jade Buddha statues in the world.
Nguyen dynasty jewels on display in S Korea
HA NOI — Jewels from the Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945) are on display at the main hall of the National Museum of South Korea.
The exhibit includes 81 precious objects from Viet Nam's last dynasty that are looked after by the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre.
Vietnamese musicians played at the exhibition's opening ceremony on Monday.
The exhibition will move to Gyeongju City in Gyeongsangbuk Province on February 28 and run until May 15, next year. — VNS