The “2009 European Days” festival will take place across the country between now and early June, featuring 16 cultural and intellectual events imbued with different European identities.

This was revealed at a press conference held by the European Commission (EC) and the embassies of several European Union (EU) countries in Hanoi on May 4.

Speaking at the press briefing, Czech Ambassador Michal Kral, President of the European Union in Vietnam and Ambassador Sean Doyle, Head of the EC Mission, expressed their hope that the month-long festival, which celebrates European Day on May 9, will help the Vietnamese people and the international community at large to get to know more about Europe through a series of interesting and entertaining intellectual activities.

The festival, the sixth of its kind in Vietnam, will start with an exhibition of artist Alberto Corazon’s paintings and sculptures, which is sponsored by the Spanish Embassy in Hanoi.

A selection of 14 outstanding films produced by EU member countries will also be screened in the capital between May 11-21 and in Ho Chi Minh City from May 21-30.

The classic silent movie the “Potemkin Battleship”, made by director Sergeu Eisenstein in 1925, will also be screened during the festival.

Seminars on EU-Vietnam trade relations will be held in the central cities of Hue and Da Nang and a number of EU ambassadors will give presentations on climate change.

This year’s event will include a football tournament between European and Vietnamese children, a painting competition on gender equality and a festival of European cuisine.