A festival, entitled “Hello! Vietnam ” opened at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo on September 18.

Speaking at the festival’s opening ceremony, former Japanese senator Iwao Matsuda, Co-Chairman of the festival’s organising board said that the festival was the largest cultural exchange between the two countries during the year. It would help Japanese people to understand more about the Vietnamese people and land.

Vietnamese ambassador to Japan Nguyen Phu Binh said the festival is held in September to mark the National Day of Vietnam (Sept. 2), and especially to celebrate the up-coming 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi in October. He expressed his hope that after the festival more Japanese friends would visit Vietnam .

The two-day Hello! Vietnam festival 2010 is held following the success of the first Hello! Vietnam in September 2008, which drew the participation of more than 150,000 people, including Crown Prince Naruhito.
The festival this year is scheduled to include performances by popular artists from both countries, like singers Ho Quynh Huong and Nam Cuong from Vietnam , artists from Japanese Idoling, Gypsy Queen and Rap DG Samurai groups.

The organising board expected that the Hello! Vietnam 2010 will attract about 100,000 people./.