Published:  00:00 Thursday - January 15, 2009

Diverse cultural, tourism and sports events are taking place across the country to welcome the upcoming lunar New Year Festival (Tet) - the Year of the Buffalo.

The main streets in Nha Trang city of central coastal Khanh Hoa province are bedecked with flowers, colorful lanterns, slogans and flags to welcome Tet. The director of the Khanh Hoa provincial Department for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Truong Dang Tuyen, said many activities will be launched for the occasion, such as a Tet trade fair, a spring flower trade fair, a spring newspaper exhibition, a film week, photo and calligraphy exhibitions, a lion dance contest and a human chess competition.

Apart from film shows in Nha Trang city, two mobile film screening teams will be sent to the two mountainous districts of Khanh Son and Khanh Vinh to serve local ethnic minority people.

During a week-long cultural event in Khanh Hoa, many folk games and traditional ritual festivals will also be held, such as the Cau Ngu festival, the Thap Ba Ponnaga ritual, a boat racing, a sea swimming competition, a junior football tournament and a sea volleyball competition. Organisations and individuals are encouraged to participate in all these events.

Firework displays will be launched in Nha Trang city and Dien Khanh district with generous sponsorship from local businesses.

To meet the people’s demand for entertainment during the Tet holiday from January 15-31, the central province of Quang Ngai will organise many sports, cultural and tourism activities for local residents.

There will be a fireworks show on Lunar New Year’s eve in Quang Ngai city and in the Dung Quat economic zone along with many exciting programmes. Diverse cultural activities will also be held in a number of places in the province, including an exhibition on art and handicrafts, film shows, folk games, and sports games such as volleyball, badminton, Chinese chess, traditional martial arts and boxing. The national music and dance troupe and the provincial cinematographic centre will give performances to entertain local residents in seven mountainous districts and islands.

Local people will enjoy lion dances and performances and celebrate the 79^th anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. An exhibition to display photos of the late Prime Minister Pham Van Dong will also be held.