State Commission for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs held a press conference in Hà Nội on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The annual “Xuân Quê Hương” (Homeland Spring), the biggest external and cultural event held for overseas Vietnamese (OVs) on the occasion of the Lunar New Year festival, will take place in Hà Nội on January 14, with about 3,000 people taking part, including 1,000 OVs.

The information was revealed by the deputy head of the State Commission for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs Mai Phan Dũng during a press conference in Hà Nội on Wednesday.

As part of the programme, traditional activities will be held such as incense offering, the release of carp, tribute to President Hồ Chí Minh at his mausoleum, meetings with Party and State leaders and a Vietnamese cuisine festival.

The President will extend New Year wishes to participants during a music show which will be broadcast live on the national Việt Nam Television, its digital platforms or mobile app.

Its sideline activities will begin on January 13, including a workshop of the National Assembly’s Committee for External Affairs with OVs on legal regulations for them, a meeting with leaders of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee to honour outstanding OVs, a spring fair with trade, investment and tourism promotion activities in Hanoi, an exchange at the national radio The Voice of Việt Nam, and release of carps at Ao Sen (lotus pond) in Thăng Long Imperial Citadel which will be hosted by the President.

Held for the first time in 2008, the programme is a joint effort between the Foreign Ministry, several agencies and localities. — VNS