Tourists enjoy the scenery near the Chua Cau (Bridge Pagoda), located in a historic Japanese covered bridge in the historic town of Hoi An.

The reigning Miss World, Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia, and other beauty queens will parade through the streets of Hoi An in Quang Nam this week as part of the central province’s biennial heritage festival.

The festival’s opening ceremony will be staged amid the Champa temple ruins at My Son on Thursday and the closing ceremony in the old quarter of Hoi An on Sunday, one day before the actual festivities conclude.

Friday will see a masquerade ball of youth union volunteers dressed in the traditional attire of all the countries who have once done business in Hoi An, including Japan, the Netherlands and Portugal. Alongside the ball in the old quarter will be traditional music and dance performances from those countries.

Saturday morning will see work start on a statue of the late Polish architect Kazimiers Kwiatkowski, known by his Vietnamese friends and colleagues as Kazik.

The Cham relics scholar played a major role in the recognition of My Son and Hoi An as World Heritage Sites.

His statue in Duy Xuyen District will be unveiled on December 4, ten years to the day after My Son was given UNESCO’s stamp of approval.

The festival’s program also includes a boat race next to Hoi An’s famous Chua Cau (Bridge Pagoda) – which is located inside the town’s famous Japanese covered bridge – exhibitions on My Son and Hoi An, stage acts, folk art performances, and demonstrations of martial arts and calligraphy writing.

Reported by Dang Ngoc Khoa