A: First on our show today, we’d like to remind you of some frequency changes for our summer broadcasts.

B: VOV’s relayed broadcast from Moosbrunn, Woofferton, and Dhabayya to Europe at 17:00 UTC will be on 9625 khz. Our broadcast from Woofferton and Cypress Creek to Eastern America and the Caribbean at 01:00 UTC and 02:30 UTC will be on 12005 khz. And our broadcasts to Central America and the Caribbean at 03:30 UTC will be on 6175 kHz.

A: If you haven’t jotted down the changes, please go to our website at www.vovworld.vn to confirm them. We’ll also inform you individually by emails and post mails.

B: This week, we received more emails from Richard Nowak of the US containing reports on our broadcasts. Richard, as we just mentioned, we have changed frequencies for our summer broadcasts. We think that’s why you could not hear anything on 6175 khz on March 28. Our programs are now broadcast to North America on 12005kz.

A: We appreciate your reports, Richard. They are very informative and useful to us. We would miss you if we didn’t receive your reports.

Hung Kings Temple Festival

B: After listening to VOV’s broadcast on March 24, Richard wrote: “Tonight's show was received perfectly here in Ft. Pierce, Florida. 6175 kHz from 1:00 to 1:27 IUTC listening with a Lafayette HE-30 hooked up to an AOR LA320 active loop antenna. The great Letterbox show mentioned that spring has arrived in Vietnam and flowers are blooming and the days are humid. It’s getting like that here in Florida. The temperature is creeping up. Water flow was mentioned as being below normal. A nice pop song was played. Listeners letters were read from Indonesia, Wisconsin and from a 73 year old listener. Many thanks for reading my report”.

A: Rating SINPO at all 5s and sending us an audio clip of the show, Richard wrote: “The show was informative, educational and fun. It's always nice to hear listeners' letters from around the world. Thanks for the show and your support of shortwave!”.

B: Today we’d like to welcome to VOV Rudolf Grimm of Brazil. Though he reported not on our broadcast, but on the Vietnamese broadcast, his enthusiasm for shortwave encourages us.

A: He wrote: “It was an amazing experience to listen to your Medium Wave station. As a shortwave listener since the 80s, I would like to receive more information about the Voice of Vietnam”.

B: Rudolf, we’ll forward your report to the Vietnamese language section and our Technician Department. We hope you will tune in to our English broadcast sometime. We’ll send you our program schedule and a frequency list. You can also check out our website at www.vovworld.vn for more programs and information about VOV.

A:  Next is an email from Chinmoy Mahato, President of the Guide International and Radio Listeners’ Club in India. He wrote: “There are 45 members in our club. We always try to listen to radio programs from different countries. We have collections from many different countries radio stations, and we regularly celebrate World Radio Day with radio exhibitions and listeners’ conferences. We listen to VOV on its website and enjoy the Letter Box program. The announcers have very sweet voice”.

B: Thank you very much, Chinmoy Mahato. We’ll send you some special Vietnam gifts to acknowledge your enthusiasm for our broadcasts.

A: On March 23 we received a beautiful e-card and Good Friday greetings from Jayanta Chakrabarty of India. In Vietnam, Vietnamese Christians also celebrate Good Friday. It’s one of many celebrations in Vietnam.

B: Vietnam has many colorful festivals and annual events which range from simply entertaining the community to honoring Vietnam’s founders and heroes.

A: Most of the festivals, anniversaries and traditional cultural events of Vietnam are tied to its lunar calendar; however, nowadays, the Christian calendar is also widely used throughout the country. Annually, on January 1st of the Western calendar, Vietnam also celebrates the International New Year Day.

\ Vietnamese square sticky rice cake- typical dish during Vietnam's traditional lunar New Year festival

B: But it is the Lunar New Year Festival, which falls in late January or early February that is Vietnam’s most important holiday. Officially, the festival, called Tet spans the 1st, 2nd and 3rd day of the lunar calendar, but, Vietnamese people often spend nearly a month celebrating the event.

A: Vietnamese people feel and often show deep gratitude toward their ancestors. The Death anniversary of the Hung Kings often called the Hung King Temple Festival-is celebrated on the tenth day of the third lunar month each year.

B: A public holiday, this festival honors the Hung Kings- the founders of the Vietnamese nation. It’s an occasion to teach the younger generation about their roots. On this special day, Vietnamese people at home and abroad turn their hearts toward Nghia Linh Mountain in Phu Tho Province—the sacred land where the Hung Kings established our nation centuries ago.

B: Every year since, Vietnam has celebrated this day to commemorate the unification of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north and the Republic of Vietnam in the south into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that we know today.

A: On Reunification Day people enjoy a holiday with their family. In front of each house Vietnam’s national flag is proudly displayed.

B: Along with other countries around the world, Vietnam celebrates International Workers' Day, known as International Labor Day or May Day in Vietnam, as a public holiday. It is celebrated on the first day of May, one day after Reunification Day creating a two-day break.

A: Any nation’s Independence Day is an important event. Vietnam’s independence was declared in 1945. On September 2^nd of that year, thousands of people gathered at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi to hear Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence read by Ho Chi Minh, the first President of Vietnam, officially declaring that Vietnam was free from French colonial control. Every year since, the Vietnamese people have celebrated that momentous occasion.

B: Independence Day is marked with fireworks and parades. Many people take advantage of their day off to take a short trip or visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum near Ba Dinh Square. Those are Vietnam’s biggest celebrations. There are many other celebrations, festivals and annual events nationwide that occur nationwide or are specific to one region. We’ll talk about some of them in other shows.