Festival of traditional southern culture to be held; Metropole holds antique car, motorcycle charity parade; Ancient axe dating back to Hung Kings era unearthed; Publisher releases verse to celebrate 1,000 years

The fourth annual cooking and culture festival Ngay Hoi Que Toi (My Homeland Festival) will be held in Van Thanh Tourism Park, HCM City from today until Sunday.

The large park will be transformed to recall daily traditional Vietnamese life, with markets, areas for folk games, music and trade villages.

Visitors can sample more than 100 Vietnamese dishes from various regions of the country and will be able to learn how to make some traditional dishes.

Rural markets will be assembled to introduce visitors to the daily life of Vietnamese people in every region, complete with street vendors wearing traditional costumes calling out to attract passers-by.

Metropole holds antique car, motorcycle charity parade

A parade featuring vintage cars and antique motorcycles will take place in Ha Noi on Sunday as part of the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi’s annual charity fundraising programme.

Money donated to the event will go towards the Ha Noi-based Nguyen Viet Xuan orphanage.

Ancient axe dating back to Hung Kings era unearthed

An ancient axe dating from between 2,000 and 3,000 years ago, has been found by chance near Thien Co Temple, in Viet Tri city in the northern province of Phu Tho. The temple is famous for the tutor of the 18th Hung King’s two princesses having worshipped there.

The shoe-shaped bronze axe-head has a bas-relief of a boat with three men inside it, who are raising their hands towards the sky. Below the boat, a hunting dog waits for two antlered deer. In 1993, two bronze bowls were excavated at the temple.

Publisher releases verse to celebrate 1,000 years

Nguyen Thi Lam Hao’s book Hoai Cam Den Do (Remembering Do Temple) has been released by the Van Hoc (Literature) Publishing House to help celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Ha Noi.

The book includes 416 lines of poetry summarising the history of the eight kings of the Ly dynasty, who built the prosperous and peaceful foundation for the country. Hao is thought to have composed the largest number of poetry sentences out of the 1,000 poets of Do Temple’s Poetry Club.

VietNamNet/VNS