HÀ NỘI—The EU Ambassador to Việt Nam has praised the government initiative to keep cars off the roads around Hoàn Kiếm Lake, saying it brings communities together and gives Hanoi a European feel.

Bruno Angelete was speaking during the weekend’s European Village event where thousands of people were treated to a Euro spectacular featuring music and culture from a different continent.

“Together with all the member states of the European Union, we decided to organise a Europe Village with a lot of activities with cultural performances,” said Mr Angelete.

“We want to bring European culture closer to the people. We’ve done in the past activities in concert halls and museums but we feel we should get much closer to the people of Hanoi.

“We also want to support the leadership of Hanoi’s decision to make this area traffic free during the weekend.

“Hanoi is one of the greatest cities in Asia, it is really a beauty. We want to support the preservation of Hanoi and that’s why we did this. If it works, we will do it every year.”

Although in its first year, Mr Angelete hopes it will become an annual event and in the future, include more local musicians.

He added: “We got a lot of support from the Vietnamese administration. In our music performances there are many Vietnamese musicians blended into music bands which was also part of the initiative.

“This is the first time and later on we hope to blend much more meaning mix much more with what we have from Europe together with what the Vietnamese have.”

The event also featured stilt walkers from Belgium, acrobats from France and street hockey players from the Czech Republic.

The crowd also enjoyed music from many European nations including Holland, Sweden, Hungary and Ireland.

The event was held at the Ly Thai To Square at Hoan Kiem Lake. —VNS