The first ever Viet Nam – ASEAN UNESCO Heritage festival held in Viet Nam is expected to take place at the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Lam Dong at the end of the year.—Illustrative image

LAM DONG (VNS)– The first ever Viet Nam – ASEAN UNESCO Heritage festival held in Viet Nam is expected to take place at the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Lam Dong at the end of the year.

Lam Dong is among the five provinces, which are home to the ‘Space of Gong' Culture recognised by the UNESCO as the world cultural heritage in 2005.

It is the third and the largest plateau province in the Central Highlands with many ethnic groups including Ba Na, E De and Gia Rai.

The province was selected to hold the festival at a meeting last week between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives from cities and provinces home to the heritage, and relevant agencies in Ha Noi.

The festival is set to run for five to seven days with participation of the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) member countries. The countries will take turns hosting future events.

The ASEAN has numerous world heritage sites recognised by the UNESCO. Viet Nam has 17 which have played important roles in boosting tourism and development. – VNS