Published:  00:00 Thursday - November 11, 2010

Vietnam’s Saint Giong Festival has been put among 47 nominations for recognition as one of the world intangible cultural heritages by UNESCO.

The list was announced by UNESCO on November 9.

At present, 166 heritages of 77 countries have been recognised as world intangible cultural heritages. Vietnam has a number of heritages in this list, including the Hue royal court music, the Gong space of Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) and the Bac Ninh love duet singing.

The Saint Giong festival is a unique traditional event in Vietnam, held annually from the 6^th-12^th of the fourth lunar month in many places in Vietnam to commemorate the legendary national hero who grew from a 3-year-old child into a giant overnight to help drive out invaders from the country.

The 9^th of the fourth lunar month is the major day for the biggest Saint Giong festival at Phu Dong village in Hanoi’s Gia Lam district, where this national hero was born.

The festival is a chance for visitors to watch the performance of traditional rituals and artistic activities which have been handed down from generation to generation.