Hanoi (VNA) - The Pen Monument in HoanKiem Lake in Hanoi is set to go green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day –Ireland’s National Day on March 17, as the capital joins the Global GreeningInitiative for the second time.

The ‘greening’ ceremony will be held at 6pm andwill be followed by the Ireland Day event, a fun-filled free public event ofIrish cultural activities organised by the Centre for Sustainable DevelopmentStudies (CSDS), a partner of the Embassy.

Minister of State for Food, Forestry andHorticulture, Andrew Doyle, will represent the Government of Ireland at the St.Patrick’s Day Celebrations in Vietnam, and the Traditional Irish Music Societyof University College Dublin (UCD Tradsoc) will present some of the best Irishmusic and dance.

Every year on March 17, Ireland and its peoplecelebrate St Patrick’s Day. With up to 70 million people around the worldclaiming Irish ancestry and many more friends of Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day isa worldwide celebration.

Since 2010 a very special project calledIreland’s Global Greening Initiative has grown to become a significantworldwide campaign in which landmark sites around the world ‘turn green’ tomark St. Patrick’s Day.

This year on St Patrick’s Day, over 300 of theworld’s most famous landmarks (stadiums, statues, museums and towers) in over32 countries around the world, such as the Empire State building in New York,City Hall in London, and the Great Wall of China, will turn green for the day.

Over 10,000 Irish visitors travel to Vietnameach year, and we have a resident Irish community of about 1,000 who areparticularly active in education and business. About 200 Vietnamese studentsare studying in Ireland.-VNA