The fourth Quang Nam Heritage Itinerary Festival will be held from June 4-7 to mark the 10th anniversary of UNESCO’s recognition of My Son as a historical site and Hoi An ancient town as world cultural heritage.

The Quang Nam People’s Committee announced at a press conference on May 12 that most of the activities in the biennial festival will be held in Hoi An town and Duy Xuyen and Dien Ban districts under the theme “Heritage in our hands and hearts”. The opening ceremony will take place in My Son and the closing ceremony, in Hoi An.

The festival will include folk art performances, exhibitions of antiques, paintings, photos and statues relating to the two heritage sites.

Two world beauty queens, Miss World 2007 Zhang Zi Lin and Miss World 2008 Ksenia Sukhinova, will be guests at the event.

The organisers will also hold a series of sporting events, including a golf tournament and a boat race.

My Son, which was recognised as a world cultural heritage site alongside Hoi An in 1999, is the cradle of the Cham people, who joined other ethnic groups such as the Viet, Co Tu, Xe Dang, Co, De Trieng, Chinese and Japanese to build a life in Quang Nam.

Their over 600-year-old heritage has produced a multi cultural tradition of artwork, religion, architecture and cuisine from the different ethnic groups.

With these special and diverse cultural characteristics the complex of Hoi An’s ancient streets and My Son temple is now included in UNESCO’s preservation list.