Published: 00:00 Wednesday - November 14, 2007
A festival in honour of handicraft villages playing an important part in Vietnamese culture opened in Hanoi on November 14.
The festival showcases 200 prominent handicraft villages out of the 2,000 villages throughout the country that produce handiworks, from pottery to kites.
The Bat Trang pottery village, which lies about 15 km from Hanoi, brings to the event simple but delicate products.
Most notable among these is a tea set, which can use up to five kilograms of tea, serve up to 250 people.
The Doi Tam drum makers present a set of 60 drums to be played by 60 girls in a seven-minute performance.
A competition of hand-made kites will also be held during the festival in which a 12m four-flute-carried kite made by Dong Anh district artisans is expected to fly high.
Apart from showcasing hand-made items, the festival will provide visitors with opportunities to enjoy love song duets, songs of strolling blind musicians, water puppets and traditional children’s plays, and the art of calligraphy writing.
The festival has drawn the participation of ten Japanese businesses. 
