(VOVworld) - Themed “Explore Red River Delta Civilization”, the 8^th Vietnam Heritage Day has been held in Hanoi. This week’s event kick started activities of the National Tourism Year, which aim to promote tangible and intangible cultural characteristics of the Red River Delta.

The Vietnam heritage day event, which featured exhibitions and seminars on preserving and promoting cultural heritages, drew participants from Hanoi, Hai Phong, Phu Tho, Ninh Binh and Bac Ninh province. The event also introduced some typical arts forms of the Red River Delta which have been recognized by UNESCO as cultural heritages such as Quan Ho folk duet, Ca tru folk singing, and Xoan singing. The event was dominated by a message about heritage potential and activities to bring into full play the community’s awareness and responsibility for the preservation and promotion of traditional cultural values. In response to this message, the Thang Long Hanoi Cultural Heritage Association held a trance singing festival which drew the participation of several domestic and foreign cultural researchers and artists. The festival is part of activities in preparation of a dossier of Hat Van ritual to be listed as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage and submitted to UNESCO for recognition as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Professor Luu Minh Tri, President of Thang Long Cultural Heritage Association says: “It’s necessary to raise the public awareness about cultural heritage, Hat van or trance singing and the ritual of worshiping Mother Goddess. We also need to increase exchanges between singers and artists performing at temples dedicated to the Mother Goddess to improve understanding of this ritual, its positives and negatives”.

One of the key goals of this event was to encourage social organizations to find practical solutions to preserve and promote cultural heritage values. Phu Tho province organized a seminar on heritage education in the schools. Seminar attendees recommended approaches to teaching cultural heritage and practical ways to preserve it. Doctor Le Xuan Truong, Director of Phu Tho province’s Department of Education and Training says: “It’s necessary to diversify methods of educations to introduce school children to heritages. In addition, we need to create opportunities for school children to participate in cultural activities”.

This year’s Heritage Day featured activities to respond to the 2013 National Tourism Year of the Red River Delta-Hai Phong. This was an opportunity for localities to talk about relics and landscapes as well as tangible and intangible cultural values of the Red River Delta thus creating a connectivity between regions to boost local tourism. This event showed that cultural heritages helped develop diverse tourist products and promote the image of Vietnam, its land and people.