Viet Nam’s festival in waiting list for intangible cultural heritage
Update: Nov 11, 2010
Vietnam’s Saint Giong Festival has been put among 47 nominations for recognition as the world intangible cultural heritages by the UNESCO.

The list was announced by the UNESCO on November 9.

At present, 166 heritages of 77 countries have been recognised as world intangible cultural heritages. Vietnam has a number of heritages in this list, including the Viet Nam court music, the cultural space of gong in Tay Nguyen (Central Highlanders), Ca Tru and the Bac Ninh folk songs.

Saint Giong Festival is a unique traditional event in Vietnam, held annually from the 6th-12th of the fourth lunar month in many places in Vietnam to commemorate the legendary national hero who grew from a 3-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 Hanoi where this national hero was born.

The festival is a chance for visitors to watch the performance of traditional rituals and artistic activities which have been handed down from generations to generations.
VNA