More than 2,500 martial artists will participate in a festival for the Millennium celebrations at Hanoi\'s Quan Ngua Sports Centre.

International martial artists performing in Vietnam

Fifty-nine teams, including martial artists from Israel, Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine and Italy, will participate in 590 performance and combat events.

Organisers say 1,000 artists from 40 martial art schools will perform the Truong Con Thang Long – the art of the long rod – at the opening of the four-day festival on Tuesday.

"This will be the biggest show of different martial arts schools in Viet Nam in 20 years," said Hanoi Martial Arts Association general secretary Le Ngoc Quang. "It will be a great event to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of city\'s founding.

Association deputy general secretary Tran Viet said: "We have arranged pavilions to allow schools to display their arts and explain their history.

"They will compete continuously on three mats at the 5,000-seat gymnasium."

It\'s the first time most of Vietnam\'s martial schools have gathered together for a festival in the capital.