(VOVworld) – Vietnamese language, culture and cuisine have been on display at the 19th International Language Festival in Tours, France. Efforts by Vietnamese students in Tours to demonstrate Vietnamese culture were well received. Festival-goers young and old were impressed by colorful handicrafts and tasty dishes. A Vietnamese language class drew a great number of learners. Visitors also enjoyed conical hat dancing and documentaries on Vietnam’s Lunar New Year (Tet) celebration.

President of the Touraine-Vietnam Association, Jean Jacques Rousselle, shared his excitement at having organized this event several times: We have been eager and busy setting up the festival over the past two weeks. On the eve of the festival, we were worried about a possible location change for Vietnam’s stands. At this year's event, we tried to attract more participants to our seminars.

Rousselle organized a seminar on Vietnam's spices and herbs, which, he said, are "the soul" of Vietnamese cuisine, making it totally distinctive from any other.