Hanoi (VNA) - Awide range of cultural activities to reveal the depth of traditional Tet (LunarNew Year) celebrations will take place at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel fromJanuary 24. The programmes for children will run until January 27.

Children in Hanoi will enjoyan early celebration of the festival through folk games, such as tugs of warand swings. Along with games, children can try their hands at making banhchung (glutinous square cakes) and li xi (lucky moneyenvelope).

They will also learn toprint and paint folk paintings and write calligraphy once use as good luckdecorations during Tet.

Together with the festival,an exhibition will be held until February 24 introducing visitors to atraditional Vietnamese Tet celebration and typical worshipping space for theoccasion 100 years ago. This will be done through a display of wood carvings ofFrench researcher Henri Oger and documents from France’s Albert Kahn Museum.

Ancient painting genresfrom across the country, including Hang Trong and Kim Hoang in downtown and onthe outskirts of Hanoi, respectively, and Dong Ho in the northern province ofBac Ninh, are also showcased.

Kim Hoang is a common namegiven to folk paintings printed on yellow and red paper. It was inventedin the second half of the 18th century and strongly developed since the 19thcentury at Kim Hoang village in Van Canh commune in Hanoi’s suburbandistrict of Hoai Duc.

The subjects inKim Hoang paintings are taken from the plain and ordinary lives of the citizensof the Red River Delta, so they easily win people’s hearts. Each paintinghas familiar sights of animals as well as depicting daily life,Lunar New Year holidays and the worship of the Kitchen Gods.

Hang Trong folk paintinggenre is traditionally produced on paper with one carved woodblock inked inblack to give an outline that is then filled in with different colours by hand.Its artistic cousin, Dong Ho, is produced by a series of woodblocks, eachcarrying a different colour.

Highlight of the programmeis a ceremony setting up cay neu  (the New Year’stree) on February 7, which is one of the activities drawing visitors’ specialattention, according to Nguyen Thanh Quang, vice director ofthe Centre for Thang Long Heritage Conversation.

“Vietnamese people have acustom of erecting a bamboo pole in front of their house on the last day of thelunar year to expel evil, worship deities and pray for good luck for the NewYear,” he said. “People remove it on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year tosay farewell to their ancestors in heaven.”

New Year’s Eve this yearwill fall on February 16. From February 18 to 20, various art performances willtake place, including martial arts, water puppetry, folk singing and dance.

Trinh Van Binh, 70, and histroupe from My Duc district on the outskirts of Hanoi, will perform tứlinh (four sacred animals: dragon, kylin, phoenix and tortoise) dance,one of the traditional dances of ancient Thang Long, the former name of Hanoi.

“Our group of 25 peoplewill perform dances and play music. We desire to uphold the tradition of the homelanddespite old age.”-VNA