Artists play bronze drums at the opening day of the Japan-Vietnam Culture Exchange Program in Hoi An Town Friday.

Eighteen Dong Son bronze drums representing the 18 generations of Hung Kings rung in the opening of the seventh Vietnam-Japan Cultural Exchange Days in the historic town of Hoi An Friday.

The artists from the north-central province of Thanh Hoa presented one of their Dong Son drums as a gift to the People’s Committee, the local government, of Hoi An Town.

The event also featured a craft village and culinary booths introducing visitors to Vietnamese fish sauce, embroidered paintings and silk.

Hoa, an employee from Quang Nam Silk Company, said it was hard to make silk outdoors. “But it’s not so hard when the visitors are so happy to watch us feed the silkworms, boil the cocoons and then spin the silk.”

Many foreigners were also drawn to the beginners’ Vietnamese course offered at the event for the first time.

This Vietnam-Japan cultural exchange program, running until Sunday at the former international port in the central province of Quang Nam, marks 10 years since the town received UNESCO World Cultural Heritage recognition.

The festival will continue today with a lecture and demonstration of traditional Vietnamese music by professor Tran Van Khe as well as performances by some 200 Japanese musicians.

A ceremony will also be held on the Cham Islands off the coast, where authorities will receive a UNESCO certificate recognizing the archipelago as a Global Biosphere Reserve.

The cultural activities, some of which will take place on the islands, will include a seminar on the environment and a photo exhibition of the past six exchange celebrations in Hoi An.

The event will also feature Japanese cuisine and tea ceremonies as well as kimono fashion shows, a mochi (Japanese style glutinous rice cake) festival and cherry blossom growing demonstrations.

Hoi An was an important Southeast Asian trading port from 15th century until the late 17th century, attracting merchants and ships from Japan, China, the Netherlands and Portugal.

The town’s antique and culturally diverse architecture attracted nearly 500,000 tourists last year with one of the most famous buildings being the Chua Cau (Bridge Pagoda), located inside the town’s covered Japanese bridge, built in the 17th century by Japanese merchants living in the town.

Reported by Vu Phuong Thao