VietNamNet Bridge – The annual Sen Village Festival will be held in the home village of President Ho Chi Minh on May 23-24 to celebrate his 121st birthday, which falls on May 19.

Dozens of arts troupes, including local performers and troupes from HCM City, Ha Noi, Dong Thap, Cao Bang, Thua Thien Hue and Ha Tinh, will join the Sen Village Singing Festival, which is in the general Sen Village Festival.

A conference on 30 years of the festival and its cultural heritage will be held on May 26.

The festival has been held since 1981 in the President's home village.

* Southern university wins robotics tournament

Lac Hong University's Robocon team overcame 32 other teams to win a national robotics tournament that saw teams design and build their own fighting machines.

The win has earned Lac Hong a place in the final round of the Asian Broadcasting Union Robot Contest to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, later this year.

This is the second time a team from the university won the competition. The winning team received a total cash prize of VND70 million (US$3,500) from the organisers, the Asian Broadcasting Union and Toyota Viet Nam.

Students Nguyen Duc Long and Vo Tien Loc from HCM City's Technology Teachers' Training College were awarded the highest prize for their Bird Robot at the Techshow event in the same competition.

The competition gathered 245 teams from 56 universities, colleagues and technical schools throughout the nation.

* National fine arts museum creates space for children

The Viet Nam National Fine Arts Museum will open a new creative space for children when kicking off its fine arts education programme on Saturday.

The space, situated in a 70sq.m room on the third floor of the museum's main hall, has been designed and equipped for children aged 5-15. The room will be used by guest artists and museum guides to teach children about traditional and contemporary fine arts in Viet Nam and around the world.

A series of activities including drawing, colouring and paper collage making are planned to be held in the creative space. Models for creative activities will include Vietnamese art work on display at the museum including Trai Cay Nam Bo (Southern Fruits), Co Tam Di Hoi (Ms Tam Goes to Festival), Pho Gia Ngu (Gia Ngu Street) and Thieu Nu Ben Hoa Sen (Girl by Lotus).

Following its launch on Saturday (Cultural Diversity Day) the free access creative space will be opened on a daily basis at 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Ha Noi.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News