Viet Nam’s capital city of Ha Noi will host for the first time the fifth International Buddhist Conference and the United Nations Day of Vesak (UNDV) in May 13-17, 2008, the UNDV International Organization Committee (IOC) announced on Nov. 10.

The Vesak celebration, the most important Buddhist festival, marks Buddha’s birthday, his attaining Enlightenment and his entry into Nirvana.

The festival, known as the Buddha’s Day, aims to spread a message of love, peace, harmony, mercy, and progress to the world.

According to Venerable Dr. Le Manh That, IOC Chairman and Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Viet Nam Buddhism Institute, more than 4,000 Buddhist dignitaries and scholars from over 70 countries will participate in the event.

An IOC conference in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 8-9 decided the 2008 Vesak festival and workshop will be themed “Buddhism for an equitable, democratic and advanced society”.

The IOC Chairman said the festival will honor the cultural values of Buddhism and Viet Nam .

A workshop on Buddhism in the Digital Age will also be held, aiming to set up a Buddhist network of electronic cultural atlas initiative (ECAI), which will maintain archives of and present Buddhist heritage and traditions, and exchanges of information, documents and boost cooperation between Buddhist countries.