Long Bien Bridge focus for festival A performance at the opening ceremony of Vietnamese Cultural Heritage Day which runs until tomorrow at the Viet Nam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hieu Jewels in the lotus: The photo Tuoi Tho Mua He (Summer Childhood) by Nguyen Xuan Chinh from Ha Noi was granted first prize in the photo contest Sen Trong Doi Song Van Hoa Viet (Lotus in Vietnamese Culture) held to support Vietnamese Heritage Day today. An on-going exhibition displaying 75 selected photos and award-winning ones, opens to public at the Centre for Women and Development at 20 Thuy Khe Street. HA NOI — One of the capital city's most iconic structures, Long Bien Bridge, has proved to be a fertile source of inspiration at a festival celebrating Vietnamese Cultural Heritage Day in Ha Noi. The festival, which runs until tomorrow at the Viet Nam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts, features exhibitions and a programme of performances celebrating the culture of the Hong (Red) River Delta, the ancient cradle of the Vietnamese civilisation. The festival's opening night on Wednesday featured a unique dance performance in collaboration with famous local painter Nguyen Doan Son. The artist took the stage at the beginning of the show with a blank canvass, and for the next 60 minutes Son created a painting depicting Ha Noi while the dancers around him performed their own musical celebration of the capital city. As Son applied the last brush stroke in his painting titled Ha Noi – In War and Peace, the music and dancers stopped, in a work that was a creative fusion of dance, music and the visual arts. "Doing this painting while the dancers performed really inspired me and gave rise to some new feelings," said Son. "The artwork is divided into four parts showcasing the life of Vietnamese people during the early 20th century, during the war and in the present." Son said Long Bien Bridge remains one of the capital's most loved structures. "Sometimes covered by flags and flowers, sometimes covered by fire and smoke, Long Bien Bridge spans these periods in our history," he said. The performance is one of many events at the four-day festival. Highlights at the festival include conductor Luu Quang Minh leading the Viet Nam National Academy's orchestra tonight in a concert titled On Long Bien Bridge, as well as The Legend of Long Bien Bridge contemporary dance performance. Visitors to the festival will also get a chance to see historical wood block prints by French artist Henri Oger, who lived from 1885 to 1936. An exhibition featuring the prints provides insights into the bygone lifestyle of city-dwellers and farmers in the Red River Delta. A workshop was held at the festival yesterday on promoting the region's folk art and cultural heritage, drawing the participation of researchers and artists from Ha Noi and the Viet Nam Folk Art and Literature associations. Participants discussed challenges to craft villages and traditional handicraft as well as the role of folk culture in modern society. "We own a treasure-trove of folk culture which is diverse and significant, and this culture continues to play an important role today," said Do Thi Hao, chairwoman of the Ha Noi Folk Art and Literature Association. "The workshop, organised on the occasion of the Heritage Day, aims to spotlight the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the country and promote cultural values in society," she said.  A wide range of activities celebrating Heritage Day will be held at four venues in Ha Noi's Old Quarter from November 23 to 25 from 9am to 4.30pm. Vietnamese tea culture and quan ho (love duets) will feature in performances at Kim Ngan Temple, 42-44 Hang Bac Street. Dong Lac Temple at 38 Hang Dao Street will feature a display on the typical living space of Ha Noi families in the past while a project run by the Ha Noi Old Quarter Information Centre at 28 Hang Buom Street will promote the city's Lan Ong Medicine Street. Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the event will involve the five Song Hong (Red River) Delta cities and provinces of Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Phu Tho, Ninh Binh and Bac Ninh. The Viet Nam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts is located at 2 Hoa Lu Street, Ha Noi. — VNS