Hanoi Craft Week 2010 will take place from August 4 to 9 at the Friendship Cultural Palace in Hanoi with the participation of 500 craft villages.

Themed “A thousand years of quintessence” the fair is part of activities to celebrate the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium anniversary and the national year of tourism in Hanoi, Luu Tien Long, Director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Commerce, said at a press briefing in Hanoi on March 8.

In addition to promoting exports, developing and improving the products of Hanoi craft villages, the week will promote the traditional cultures of the villages over the past 1,000 historic years.

It will also include other activities like a contest for artisans on a signature souvenir design for the millennium anniversary.

Visitors will have a chance to witness the process by which crafts are made, and even take part in the production themselves.

The organising board will also arrange a tour of five outstanding craft villages in combination with other tourist sites around Hanoi .

The week will cover workshops on the potential and development of Hanoi handicraft villages and shows for craft items.

The design contest and craft village tour were launched in February. (VNA)