A mosaic of Tet festivals

Tran Van Tan, director of the Vietnam Exhibition Center, says this year’s Spring Exhibition will be the largest in its 17-year history, with 500 businesses showcasing products from around the national at some 800 stalls.

Visitors to the Hanoi event can try various specialty products from several provinces, including ruou can Hoa Binh (local rice wine from Hoa Binh Province in the north), Nam Roi grapefruits from the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, as well as products from craft villages in Hanoi and Ha Tay Province.

A new section displaying flowers and ornamental plants has been added to this year’s festival, which will also feature both traditional and modern theater performances as well as rock and hip hop dance and music shows.

HANOI – Hanoi-Thang Long Spring Festival 2009 (from January 29 to February 1)

Hanoi will open its Hanoi-Thang Long Spring Festival in Ly Thai To Park and the Hoan Kiem Lake area with a celebration of the capital’s 999th birthday on January 29.

On the same day in Thanh Tri District, a festival commemorating the 220th anniversary of the battle of Ngoc Hoi-Dong Da, in which General Nguyen Hue crushed a Chinese invasion, will be launched.

At the intersection of Dinh Tien Hoang and Hang Khay streets, an exhibition titled “Images of Hanoi 2009” will feature photographs of the historic capital.

The exhibition’s opening ceremony will include traditional musical shows and a lantern ceremony at Thien Quang Lake in which lit lotus-shaped lanterns – the symbol of Hanoi – are placed in the lake.

BA RIA-VUNG TAU – Flower Festival (Bai Truoc Park in the town of Vung Tau from January 22 to February 4)

The VND1 billion flower festival, titled “Converging Spring,” will be the largest the province has ever seen.

Nguyen Thanh Binh, deputy director of festival organizer Lam Vien Green Plants, said an area of 17,000 square meters in Bai Truoc Park would be filled with flowers and plants, along with 20,000 crates of fruit.

The festival’s featured flower arrangement portrays a small river flowing from the land to the sea carrying a boat filled with fish.

A 15-meter-high flower sculpture will depict the Hai Dang Lighthouse, the symbol of the town.

A large area will be dedicated to the life-like reconstruction of the southern countryside, including bamboo houses, fishing ponds, bamboo bridges and a garden of specialty southern fruits.

Ho Si Tien, an official from Lam Vien Green Plants, said the flowers would arrive tomorrow, so they’ll stay cool and fresh throughout the festival.

A calligraphy and photography exhibition and a tourism exhibit featuring Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s nine premier tourism projects – such as the Ho Tram Strip and the Atlantics Resort Center – will also be on display.

The flower festival is part of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Culture Festival, which begins on January 26, lasting until February 4.

BEN TRE – The First Coconut Festival (Ben Tre Cultural Center, ends tomorrow)

The First Coconut Festival in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre celebrates tomorrow’s opening of Rach Mieu Bridge, which connects Ho Chi Minh City with Ben Tre Province.

The festival showcases investment opportunities in Ben Tre Province and features coconut-related games and an awards ceremony to honor Vietnam’s outstanding craft villages.

Some 250 stalls have been set up to showcase coconut-related products.

The festival also features several hands-on activities: knitting bags and carpets from coconut leaves and cooking with coconuts.

BINH THUAN – The Phan Thiet-Ham Tan Fireworks Show (January 25)

Two 15-minute fireworks displays at two locations in Phan Thiet – one near Le Hong Phong Bridge on Trung Nhi Street and one in Ham Tan District – will light up the night sky on January 25 to welcome the Lunar New Year.

HO CHI MINH CITY – Flower Markets (beginning today, ending January 25)

Three Tet flower markets are taking over the city’s three major parks: September 23rd Park, Gia Dinh Park and Le Van Tam Park.

September 23rd Park, across the roundabout from Ben Thanh Market, will be the city’s main flower market.

In District 7’s Phu My Hung area, the Wonderland Park flower market will close this Saturday.

HO CHI MINH CITY – Nguyen Hue Flower Street and Banh Tet Festival (from January 21 until January 28)

Tran Hung Viet, head of the organizing committee, said unlike previous festivals, this year’s event would not feature a giant pair of banh tet, which in the past had set a Vietnamese record.

Instead, organizers will host banh tet making contests – open to both individuals and organizations – throughout the city on January 21. The selected entries that make it through the qualifying rounds will compete in a final round at Dam Sen Park the next morning.

The first-prize winner will receive the honor of offering the cake at worshiping ceremonies at the Hung Kings (legendary founders of Vietnam) temple, the Ho Chi Minh Museum and the Ton Duc Thang Museum on January 25.

Organizers will also donate thousands of traditional cakes to disadvantaged people around the city to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

The HCMC government said it views the Tet Festival as a special occasion for both residents and international visitors. The Saigontourist Holding Company has been the main organizer of the festival since 2004.

Nguyen Hue Flower Street, to open from January 23-28, will feature an array of flowers and ornamental plants, including many from the Central Highlands town of Da Lat. During the week, the scenic boulevard in front of the HCMC government office will be closed to all vehicles.

The festival will also include a parade and musical show featuring Vietnamese traditional folk and contemporary music.

Fireworks shows will be held at six venues around the city on the Lunar New Year Eve, which falls on January 25, the organizing committee said.

HO CHI MINH CITY – Tao Dan Park Flower Festival (From Tuesday to January 31)

Hundreds of booths will offer visitors the chance to experience the best of Vietnam’s Tet customs: writing cau doi (parallel poem lines), calligraphy, Vietnamese tea ceremonies, puppet shows and even an area for visitors and tourists to learn how to make Vietnam’s banh tet (a traditional rice cake).

On the morning of January 23, some 300 ex-soldiers – as well as local students and young people – will carry out a re-creation of the legendary Truong Son Road, known in the west as “The Ho Chi Minh Trail.”

Source: thanhnien