The 2010 Long Bien Bridge Memory Festival

The Hanoi People's Committee and the Maison des Arts are to sponsor a 2010 Long Bien Bridge Memory Festival with the theme 'Dragon Bridge tells the story of 1000 years' from November 19-21, 2010 in Hanoi.
Maison des Arts director Nguyen Nga said that the Long Bien Bridge is a symbol of peace more wonderful and immortal than any other structure in the world. Spanning the Hong (Red) River, the 100-year-old bridge has fulfilled its function very well and has now become part of a cultural heritage. Nga calls the bridge a live museum that symbolizes the 1,000 year old Hanoi.
The 2010 Long Bien Bridge Memory Festival is expected to attract the participation of 69 countries that have an embassy in Vietnam. Apart from continuing activities of the 2009 Long Bien Bridge Memory Festival, the 2010 festival will make the bridge a big 'museum'. Exhibitions will showcase pictures, photos, the art of arrangement, and different objects featuring the formation and development of Vietnam over the past 10 centuries. The festival will tell stories about national ancestors, heroes, and celebrities like Lac Long Quan, Au Co, Ly Cong Uan, and will have art performances featuring country protection activities and related victories. The festival will also have an area introducing Vietnamese and foreign gastronomy, an area about the old Hanoi, and more focused exhibits as well.
Notably, a 12-night music program, in which 100 saxophone instrumentalists will perform on dragon boats, is to take place along 400 kilometers of waterway from Hoa Lu in Ninh Binh Province to Long Bien in Hanoi and to the Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh Province. The program will advertise the image of the Vietnamese country and people through telling the 'con rong chau tien' or 'Dragon and Fairy descendants' legend.
The festival will also have a great ceremony of praying for the peace of soul of people who died for the country's construction and protection over the past 1,000 years. This event will attract a large number of Buddhists, Buddhist monks and nuns and a lot of boats of different sizes.
The Long Bien Bridge will be decorated to look like a dragon with an eight meter high head and a total length of almost 50m.
All of the above-mentioned exhibits along with special art performances will make the festival a memorable, outstanding event.