Child models prepare for a fashion performance at the children festival to be held on May 27 to 28.

A series of culture activities will be held at Canh Dieu (Kite) Building, Trong Dong (Bronze Drum) Building and Cham Building such as elaborate Italian mask decoration, traditional costume colouring, bookmark-making and cooking.
According to member of VME, Children will learn about the significance of masks at Italian carnivals, and they will learn how to make a mask. Colouring traditional costumes will help children to understand the various costumes and inspire them to make designs of their own. In addition, meetings with Italian people will be held at Trong Dong Building at 9.30a.m, 11p.m, 2.30p.m and 4p.m, introducing a panorama of Italian culture.
A festival highlight will be the cuisine, presented by the Italian ambassador to Hanoi Cecillia Piccioni. She will teach how to make spaghetti and pizza at 10am on Saturday May 27. In addition, the Italian restaurants in Hanoi will also attend the festival to serve Italian foods and drinks.
The event also includes art performances and Italian carnival demonstration by Italian people. But Italy won't be the only colourful nation on display. There will be folk games, art and traditional costume performances from Cambodia, South Korea, Nigeria, Lao, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Japan, Nepal, Thailand and Cuba at the festival.
Traditional costumes will be sashayed by little models at 9.30am; 11am and 3.30am. International folk games are often held at the VME, but games from Mongolia and Cuba will be introduced for the first time at the VME.
The Mongolian game shagai (ankle bones) is very interesting. Shagai is played using the cleaned and polished ankle bones of sheep. It is the most unique game in Mongolia. Mongolian students will bring their own shagai and play at the festival.
Vietnam’s water puppeteers will also perform at the festival. The puppeteers will teach little audiences how to control the puppets and the audiences will have chance to discover backstage of water puppetry.
The children festival is co-held by VME and Italian embassy in Hanoi, with hundreds volunteers from Hanoi University's Italian Department; Military Science Academy and international schools in Hanoi. The festival will be held from 8.30am to 11.30a.m and from 2p.m to 5.30p.m on May 27 to 28. In addition, an exhibition on Italian artist Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino will be held at the VME on June 2.