Ha Dinh Chi, (aka Nem), hardly speaks. His quiet world is not boring but vibrant, as he has found a passion for brushes and colours. 

 Visitors to La Pan Tan commune, Mu Cang Chai district, the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai will be dazzled by a garden of crystal clouds which is set up to mark the 128th birthday of the late President Ho Chi Minh (May 19). 

 Vietnamese actress Nha Phuong has appeared at the Cannes Film Festival to screen short film Infill & Full Set at Festival Corner.

 Vietnamese model Nguyen Dieu Linh made it to the top 10 of Miss Tourism Queen International 2018 held in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 16.

 Hanoi’s Temple of Literature will host a first-ever summer programme for children from June 1 to August 20, which is designed to educate children on Vietnamese traditional cultural values while improving their life skills.

Designer Do Trinh Hoai Nam has been invited to open the Ao Dai Festival in the US with the ao dai inspired by the legendary Mother Au Co.

 A paragliding festival is to take place from May 18 to 20 on Khau Pha Mountain Pass in Mu Cang Chai district in northwestern Yen Bai province.

 Some 20 tonnes of old books will be available at the Hanoi May Old Book Fair at the Viet Nam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts.

Imposing landscapes, daily life stories and internal sensations are themes of a joint exhibition between Vietnamese, Japanese and Thai artists.

More than 20 art troupes from Vietnam and France will perform at the Performing Arts Spring Festival (PAS 2018) set to take place at the Vietnam National Drama Theatre in Hanoi from May 18 to 20.

An international painting and sculpture exhibition entitled ‘Silent talk’ opened at the Vietnam Fine Art Museum in Hanoi on May 15.

The Cong ethnic group in Muong Te district, the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau, is one of the most disadvantaged ethnic minorities in Vietnam, but the group boasts a diverse cultural life with traditional values. 

 An international watercolour exhibition opened in Ho Chi Minh City on May 15, displaying 74 works of 55 painters.

 The sixth national festival of the art of Then singing and Tinh gourd lute of the Tay, Nung and Thai ethnic groups concluded in the northernmost province of Ha Giang on May 14.

 An exhibition on Torres Strait masks will be introduced in Vietnam for the first time by the Australian Embassy in Vietnam together with the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.

Once praised as the leading opera singer in Vietnam, Meritorious Artist Ha Pham Thang Long retired from the stage four years ago and is now working as a lecturer. In a recent interview, she shared her thoughts on how to develop opera in Vietnam.

A selection of noteworthy artistic and cultural events taking place in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from May 14 to 20.

 The third European Book Days officially opened on Nguyen Van Binh Book Street in Ho Chi Minh City on May 13, featuring a myriad of activities attractive to local young people.

 The sixth national festival of the art of Then singing and Tinh gourd lute of the Tay, Nung and Thai ethnic groups officially opened in Ha Giang city, the northernmost province of Ha Giang, on May 13.

 A new pedestrian street, Trinh Cong Son street in Nhat Tan ward of Hanoi’s Tay Ho district near the West Lake, was launched in the evening of May 11, offering additional entertainment spaces for locals and visitors.