Vietnamese, RoK artists gather at cultural festival

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Girlband A-Daily will perform at the festival.

It’s part of an effort to boost mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries and introduce the RoK to the world.

The festival will promote the traditional culture and art of the RoK. A highlight will be Yeong San Jae, a Buddhist ceremony which was added by UNESCO in 2009 to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Twenty monks from the RoK will perform the ceremony, which is a re-enactment of Buddha’s delivery of the Lotus Sutra on the Vulture Peak in India. Through rituals and dances, the philosophical and spiritual messages of Buddhism are expressed.

Hallyu (Korean wave) fans will be eager for a concert gathering famous stars such as singer Budy, boyband Samchongsa and girlband A-Daily. Singer Luu Thuy Linh and eight Vietnamese dance groups will join the performance.

Song Kyo-young, director of the Korean Institute for Culture and Economy Promotion, the organiser of the event, said this is the first time the programme has been organised in Vietnam. He hoped Vietnamese partners to work together to organise the programme annually.

“Our institute is a non-profit organisation with a mission to honour UNESCO-recognised heritage and bring the traditional cultural values of Korea to the world,” he said.

“With the success of the festival in Vietnam, we will organise similar events in other Southeast Asian countries.”

Entry to the festival, starting at 1pm at the Grand Plaza, 117 Tran Duy Hung Street, Hanoi, is free.