“Sweet Happiness” and “Gia Lai – Land of Myths and Legends” took 1st place in the photo category and video category respectively. The video is in the Gia Rai ethnic minority language and contains melodies and images from the life of the Gia Rai people in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai.

The contest received more than 10,300 entries from 6,900 individuals, including foreigners and Vietnamese people living abroad.

While receiving his consolation prize in the video category with "Charming Vietnam", Ahmad Malulein, a Dominican, said during his 3 years and a half in Vietnam, he has been traveling across the country.

“I started my journey from HCM City, then I traveled to the center of Vietnam, and then North. I documented all my travels through videos. What makes me happy in Vietnam is mostly the unique culture and the people of Vietnam. The people have really good devotion and hard work and the ability to smile most of the time. I want to make Vietnam more popular in the world,” Ahmad told VOV.

10,300 photos and videos mean 10,300 stories that take you on a journey from mountains to cities, from islands to the mainland, from daily life to heroic moments in the nation’s history.

There are the images of happy soldiers safeguarding Vietnam’s border, happy athletes competing for the national honor in international arenas, happy doctors and nurses saving patients’ lives, and happy ethnic minority people trying to preserve their traditional culture.

“Many of the contestants are amateurs. Although the video entries are short – about 2 to 3 minutes – they show how diverse the concept of happiness can be,” director and People's Artist Nguyen Luong Duc, Vice Chairman of the final jury in the video category, said.

This year's contest attracted 300 KOLs and digital content creators from around the world, who brought a great diversity of content and form.

Lao KOL Maysaa Bouavone Phanthaboouasy, owner of the Youtube channel and Facebook page Maysaa with hundreds of thousands of followers, said she was very proud to participate in this year’s contest as a foreigner with photos and a video.

Maysaa said during the time she studied in Vietnam, she felt very happy and joyful. Vietnamese people are very friendly.

“Wherever I went, they all helped me a lot, especially when I went to Dien Bien province. Vietnam is very beautiful. I’ll try to spread the stunning image of Vietnam and its people. I hope more foreigners who are living, studying and working in Vietnam will participate in this contest,” said Maysaa.

Nguyen Lac Huy, the founder of Schannel, one of the largest media networks in Vietnam with 40 content creators on digital platforms, said, “Schanel's KOLs have responded enthusiastically to this contest, with 2,000 to 3,000 entries, mostly videos.”

In the previous contest, the Schannel submitted photos, but this year it's videos, through which they want to bring a new breeze, the breath of youth, to the contest.

“The videos are not just to spread patriotism, but also to showcase the beautiful Vietnamese nation and people. We chose topics close to young people, such as famous places, special holidays like National Day on September 2 with a campaign to cover social networks in red with the image of the national flag. The campaign went viral, with more than 800 million views,” Huy noted.

The "Happy Vietnam" contest has generated a wealth of images of a beautiful, developing, integrating Vietnam and its people, who cherish peace, work hard, and desire prosperity. The entries will be displayed at multiple domestic and foreign events.