Although the 5th Quang Nam Heritage Festival will officially kick off tonight at 8pm in Hoi An city, its sideline activities has attracted a large number of visitors since one day before.

On June 21, a cuisine event title “Heritage Cuisine Space” showcasing local specialties including cao lau, banh no, banh da, banh vac, banh loc and banh xeo at the Hoi An Statue Garden was one of the most crowded events. At the venue, be thui Cau Mong and Quang noodles, two specialties set up for national and Asian records were also introduced. In addition, visitors have chances to learn how to make local dishes, ceramics, mat and to he, a traditional toy for children in Vietnam which is made from rice powder.

Also at the night, thousands of tourists flocked to the city for the event named “Night at Hoi An ancient town at the beginning of the 20th century” which depicted the ancient space of the town with many colorful lanterns. Visitors seemed to also be interested with Nguyen Hoang night market selling local special souvenirs.

The official opening ceremony of the festival will be held tonight at Hoi An Theatre. The highlight of the opening ceremony is a unique art program combining ASEAN countries’ cultures and representatives of the cultural characteristics of Vietnam.

The Quang Nam Heritage Festival is being held in commemorating 10 years of the UNESCO Convention for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. It consists of a wide range of cultural activities including art programs, sports activities; exhibitions on natural and cultural heritage of Vietnam and ASEAN countries; workshops on cultural heritage conservation as well as tourism promotion and investment attraction.

Some main activities of the festival are the ASEAN Cultural Heritage Festival, the 3rd Vietnam International Choir Competition - Hoi An 2013 and the 3rd Miss Ethnic Vietnam 2013.

In the effort to preserve the country’s heritages, a Vietnamese delegation including representatives of the Heritage and Culture Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and UNESCO committees at provinces having heritages attended the World Heritage Committee’s 37th session in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on June 16.

At the session, Deputy Director of the Heritage and Culture Department Nguyen Quoc Hung stated that Vietnam will run for a post of the WHC. According to him, Vietnam’s participation in the event provides an opportunity for the country to exchange experience as well as take advantage of international assistance in preserving UNESCO-recognized heritages.