The largest Earth Hour Vietnam event took place in Hanoi in front of the iconic Hanoi Opera House, and was a huge success:

Attended by over 3,000 people:

• University students, corporate employees, and Hanoi residents
• Almost 300 governmental VIPs, among those who participated in the symbolic turning of the lights along side the WWF Vietnam Program director:
  

-  the Deputy Prime Minister

-  the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee

-  the Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee

-  the Minister of Industry and Technology

Earth Hour saved Vietnam a total 140.000kwh of power, equivalent to 132 million VND or about 7,500 USD, and allowed WWF Vietnam to make very important connections with high-level officials, with whom we hope to strengthen ties and work alongside with far into the future.

Earth Hour 2009 Vietnam was a main article in numerous media in the weeks leading up to the main event and the days after it. Major media in Vietnam, including VTV, Info TV, Tuoi Tre Newspaper, VnExpress, XoneFM, and HTV, who fully supported this year's event, are already committed to be partners next year.

With so much media exposure there were many spontaneous actions taken by the people in support of Earth Hour:

• Students spread the word on the streets by bicycle in Ho Chi Minh City
• The Earth Hour logo became avatar of thousands of Yahoo, Skype, and Facebook accounts
• Hundreds of blogs turned their sites dark or totally black during Earth Hour
• Candlelight parties were around.

WWF Vietnam's Earth Hour 2009 was also highly supported through partnerships and donations by both the local and international business sector including LG, Hilton Hanoi Opera, Sofitel Plaza and Metropole, Microsoft, ANZ bank, HSBC, Canon, Somerset, Nomura, Sherwood Residence, Apollo Language Center, and Vietnam Airlines.

The success of Earth Hour lies not in the numbers of watts saved or Internet hits made, but in the awareness raised. The messages that people hear and learn from Earth Hour are meant as a guide to a whole way of thinking, of being aware of how the decisions made by people, be it a farmer or a politician, can and do affect the whole world.