Nha Trang announces 2009 Maritime Festival

      The central coastal province of Khanh Hoa is gearing up for the wide-ranging Nha Trang Maritime Festival, entitled Civilization and Friendship, which is scheduled for June 6-12 and features 70 different cultural, sporting, economic and scientific events.
Theatre groups and musicians from France, Ukraine, Japan and the RoK will perform at the festival and beauty queens from 29 countries are also expected to attend the event.
Cultural activities will include the Cau Ngu (fish worshipping) ceremony, performances of ethnic Cham people, street parades, stunt kite flying, a series of French films, a calligraphy exhibition, a sand sculpture contest, a metal work exhibition, and a number of water sports competitions.
In addition, there will be a national conference on urban planning, a beach football tournament, an international book fair and a joint Vietnam-Republic of Korea concert.
The festival, which will open with a grand fireworks display and a concert, will also see the launch of an official campaign to clean up the local beaches.
Organizers expect to set several national records, including the largest folk orchestra, the biggest seaside wifi cafe, the longest piece of embroidery work and the largest bowl of ‘pho’ (noodle soup).