Central tourism hub launches cultural festival
 
 
A cultural and tourism festival will open Sunday in the historic central Vietnamese town of Hoi An featuring the region’s beauty, traditional arts, and sports.

The opening ceremony of the Summer Emotion Festival 2006, which will go on until June 29 will be held on Cua Dai beach with an art and music program.

The highlights will include kite-flying performances, a sand sculpting contest on the beach, demonstration of sports like parasailing and yachting, and traditional folk games of Quang Nam province where Hoi An is situated.

Visitors can also see stone sculptures created by 17 famous artists from Vietnam and six other countries at a month-long camp which ended Friday.

The organizers said the festival would be different from the two previous ones to avoid monotony and provide guests more opportunities to discover the region’s lifestyle.

The football World Cup, which kicks off on June 9 in Germany, will be screened at a 2000-seat hall in Hoang Dieu Street with commentary in both Vietnamese and English.

Also on the cards are a graffiti contest, best waiter contest, Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) gong festival, and Don Village elephant hunting festival, all organized for the first time in Hoi An.

Visitors can take part in cultural and sports activities on Cham Islet, and attend full-moon night festivals in Hoi An.

The Summer Emotion Festival will wrap up with two fashion shows, one featuring modern clothes and the other traditional Vietnamese and Chinese costumes from many centuries ago.

The festival is being held as part of the National Tourism Year 2006’s Quang Nam – Two world heritages at one destination which kicked off in February.

Souce: Thanh nien news