This week, we’d like to talk about Tet, Vietnam’s traditional lunar New Year festival. It is the most important celebration in Vietnam. Tết celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese lunar calendar, which usually falls in the month of January or February. This year, Tet festival will begin on February 18- New Year’s Eve. The first day of the new lunar year will be February 19.

The Vietnamese Ao Dai (traditional long dress) has graced the world’s catwalks, acclaimed for its elegant appearance and its softness and lightness. The beauty of the traditional long dress rests on hand-made silk from traditional craft villages throughout the country. Vietnamese designers are using home-spun materials to wow fashion circles in Paris and Milan.

(VOVworld) - First up we would like to inform you of a frequency change for our winter broadcast beginning October 26. Listeners in Europe, Central America and the Caribbean, and Eastern America, please take note of the following changes.

A: Vietnamese women have always played an important role in Vietnam's history. When we talk about heroic Vietnamese women, we often think of the Trung sisters, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, who in the 1st century led a rebellion to get rid of To Dinh, the corrupt Chinese governor occupying Vietnam. The Trung sisters are often praised for their military skills and courage and their image is often used to illustrate women’s role in Vietnamese society.

VOVworld) - Christopher Lewis of England wrote:“I would like to say that VOV has excellent news coverage, not only domestic but also international. Each story is covered in depth and delivered very well. The Sunday show was, as always, very interesting and remains among my favorite features on VOV, along with the Letter Box. I’m always interested in hearing other listeners’ questions, reception reports, and also the music you play in the program.”

First on our show today, we’d like to welcome Javed Iqbal, a new listener in Pakistan. Javed wrote: “I’m new to radio VOV but in a very short period of time I am much impressed with VOV programs. It gives me the opportunity to learn more about Vietnam and its people. Attributes that make VOV so exciting are the varied range of its programs, interesting features and lively music. VOV is the perfect ambassador spreading the message of peace, friendship and brotherhood to its worldwide listeners”.

(VOVworld) - To begin this week’s Letter Box, we would like to express our sympathy for the people in the flood-stricken Muzaffargarh area of Punjab, India. Syed Khizar Hayat Shah, President of the Sadat Listeners Club in India, told us about rescue and humanitarian activities for people living in relief camps there.

A: Alex, in Vietnam, we have a great number of songs about our beloved President Ho Chi Minh. The songs praise Uncle Ho’s love for children, soldiers, the Vietnamese people and the nation. Many songs praise his great personality, his simple life and his contributions to the nation. Others recount stories of his revolutionary life. These songs are very beautiful and familiar to every Vietnamese person. Here’s one of those songs

(VOVworld) - First of all, we sincerely thank all listeners for your warm wishes on our 69th founding anniversary last week. Your wishes and sentiment for VOV are a special reward and source of motivation for the VOV staff.

September 2, 1945, was a resplendent milestone in Vietnam’s thousand years of national construction and defense. The Declaration of Independence established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, affirming the freedom and independence of Vietnamese people internationally. The Declaration laid a foundation for a Vietnamese state governed by law, striving for independence, freedom, and happiness, and guiding the revolutionary cause to build a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.