The ninth annual Vietnam Cultural Day celebrations held Sunday at the Taipei City\'s 228 Memorial Park was rated a success as it attracted more than 10,000 Vietnamese and people of other nationalities.

The event was organized by the Taipei City Bureau of Labor in recognition of the contribution of Vietnamese migrant workers to Taiwan\'s economy in recent years.

"I am very happy to know that the Taiwanese government cares enough about us to hold this big party, " said 29-year-old Nguyen, a Vietnamese shoe factory worker who arrived in Taiwan two years ago.

She said Taiwan is her second home and the celebrations reconfirmed that she had made the right decision in coming to Taiwan.

One of the highlights of the celebrations was a performance by Vietnamese pop singers Noo Phuoc Thinh and Phi Nhung, who came from Vietnam specifically for the event.

During Phi Nhung\'s performance, several fans ran up to the stage, trying to get as close as possible to the Vietnamese star.

The event also featured booths displaying traditional Vietnamese toys such as bamboo grasshoppers and other insects made from coconut fronds.

Duc Mien, a 30 year-old metal worker from Hanoi who works in Hsinchu County, said he had been looking forward to the event for several weeks because it would be a chance for him to see his friends from all over Taiwan.

“Although life in Taiwan can be difficult because I miss my family and friends back home, I have more opportunities here, " he said. "I hope to earn enough money to send my brothers to school so they don\'t have to be manual workers like me."

As of August 2010, there were 63,210 Vietnamese migrant workers in Taiwan, according to the Council of Labor Affairs.