The increasing global spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has forced the organisers of national and international cultural events and celebrations to change schedules, reduce scale or even cancel the events.
Visitors at Hung Kings' Temple Festival (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - The increasing global spread of thecoronavirus disease (COVID-19) has forced the organisers of national andinternational cultural events and celebrations to change schedules, reducescale or even cancel the events.
These events include the Hung Kings’ Temple Festival in thenorth, the 7th Vietnam-Japan friendship celebration in Hanoi, the Ngu Hanh Son-Quan The Am (Marble Mountains- Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) in the centralregion, and the Don ca tai tu (southern folk music) festival in the south.
The Hung Kings’ Temple Festival will be scaled down in thenorthern province of Phu Tho with a shortened and simplified programme due tofears of the epidemic spreading.
Director of the temple Le Truong Giang said the Ministry ofCulture, Sports and Tourism, the main organiser of the festival, has alsoagreed with the changes.
Giang said that this year all cultural activities in theframework of the festival will be halted to prevent people from gathering inlarge crowds, but spiritual ceremonies will still be held.
He added that organisers will set up booths to offer masksand sanitisers for visitors.
The Hung Kings Temple Festival was scheduled to be held onApril 2. Each year, on average, the site welcomes about 6-7 milliondomestic and foreign visitors.
Meanwhile, the Vietnam-Japan Festival which was planned forMarch has been postponed to the end of the year, according to a report by theJapan-Vietnam Friendship Alliance.
Organisers said they would keep the scheduled programme andeven expand the scale.
About 160 booths of both Vietnamese and Japanese goods willbe set up at the event featuring the two countries’ traditions, cultures,tourism, sport, local handicrafts and other products and services.
The central city of Da Nang’s Ngu Hanh Son districtauthorities have also decided to postpone the Ngu Hanh Son- Quan The Am (MarbleMountains- Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) Festival, one of the 15 biggest culturalevents in the city.
The festival, which should have been taking place on March 3,has been postponed indefinitely.
In the south, Can Tho City has moved the Don ca tai tu Festivalto October./.
The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has asked airlines to inform all passengers, both Vietnamese and foreigners, on the requirement to fill in electronic health declaration forms before boarding flights to Vietnam, starting from 6:00 am on March 7.
Officials from the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA), tourism associations of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Gia Lai and Dak Lak, and the Binh Dinh Department of Tourism have met to discuss measures to stimulate tourism after the COVID-19 outbreak is contained.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the Embassies of France, Italy and the UK in Hanoi and asked the Vietnamese Embassies in Paris, Rome and London to share with relevant agencies of the host countries about movement history and temporary residence address in the UK of a Vietnamese woman who was tested positive for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 after travelling to several European nations.
Hanoi is promoting epidemiological investigation to identify the persons having contact with its first COVID-19 case, confirmed on March 6, and localising areas with infected patients.
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The event formed part of Vietnam’s ongoing campaign to seek UNESCO World Heritage status for the complex at the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, scheduled to take place in Paris in July.
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Coming to the Vietnamese booth, visitors had the chance to take part in a bamboo dance, a workshop on painting woven bamboo or rattan, or quizzes about Vietnam.
Visitors at Hung Kings' Temple Festival (Photo: VNA) 
