As Tet approaches, the festive atmosphere covers every corner of Vietnam. Each ethnic group has its own way of celebrating in terms of timing, rituals, customs and cuisine, creating a colourful panorama in the tapestry of national Tet celebrations.

Every year, Tet is celebrated on the first days of the first lunar month throughout Vietnam and in other countries where Vietnamese people live. During the festival, family members gather together, visit relatives, give good wishes and lucky money to others, and worship ancestors.

Given the current globalisation and the power of information technology, multimedia communication, and social networks, significant challenges have arisen in preserving, building, and shaping Vietnamese people's system of cultural values.

Vietnam's cultural industries have helped bring the image of a beautiful nation with rich identity to the world. Many localities have successfully optimised the creativity factor in culture and turned culture into an attractive product with high socioeconomic values, thus building trademarks for many destinations.

In 2016, the "Practices Related to the Viet Beliefs in the Mother Goddesses in Three Realms" was officially recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Making embroidered shoe is a tradition of Xa Phang ethnic people in the northwestern mountainous province of Dien Bien, with women making the shoes, called “lien hai” in their language, for their family members.

With 121 out of the 171 valid votes, Vietnam has secured the highest number of votes in Group 4 of the Asia-Pacific, officially becoming a member of the World Heritage Committee for the 2023-2027 term.

The Kate Festival, one of the most important cultural events of the Cham ethnic people in Binh Thuan, which takes place from the end of the sixth month to the middle of the seventh month in Cham calendar, is a unique tourism product helping the south central province to draw visitors.

The first cultural festival of ethnic groups with populations of fewer than 10,000 will take place in the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau from November 3-5. The event aims to honour, promote and spread cultural identities of ethnic minority groups with very small population.

As art-cation is increasingly attracting visitors, the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum has launched a special tour offering in-depth experiences of the country’s lacquer painting, according to the director of the museum Nguyen Anh Minh.

Trong Quan Duc Bac, a distinctive form of folk singing between male and female groups, is considered a cultural “specialty” with great artistic value of residents in Duc Bac commune, Song Lo district, the northern province of Vinh Phuc, after centuries of practice.

In the era of globalisation, preserving and upholding the values of heritage is an important task that contributes to popularising the image of Vietnam and its people, and plays a role in building the national brand.

The Thay Thim Temple Festival is among the five outstanding culture festivals selected by the south-central province of Binh Thuan to spur local tourism.

Digital transformation, an obvious trend for all sectors, has become a tool for the cultural sector of Vietnam to make breakthroughs in turning into a source of soft power serving the country’s sustainable development.