HÀ NỘI – A festival dedicating to Hà Nội’s lotus flower and OCOP (One Commune One Product) of the northern mountainous provinces has been launched at the Tây Hồ Creative Cultural Space on July 12.

Vice Chairman of the Hà Nội People's Committee Nguyễn Mạnh Quyền delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the festival “The Colour of Hà Nội Lotus”.

The event has been organised by the Tây Hồ District People's Committee, in collaboration with the Hà Nội Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Việt Nam Union of Friendship Organisations, and the Department of Information and Communications.

Attending the festival were Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Hà Nội Party Committee Nguyễn Thị Tuyến, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Minh Vũ, Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for External Relations Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Vân, ambassadors from Laos, Azerbaijan, the Philippines, Egypt, Japan, Italy, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and more than 5,000 guests and visitors.

Guests attend the opening ceremony of the festival “The Colour of Hà Nội Lotus”.

In his opening remarks, Vice Chairman of the Hà Nội People's Committee Nguyễn Mạnh Quyền said that lotus symbolises the culture, spirit and character of the Vietnamese people. For that reason, Vietnamese people are always proud to showcase the beauty of the lotus to their international friends. The lotus has become an endless source of inspiration for poetry, music, painting, and many other works of art and literature. The image of lotus has also been used to present on many application products.

Nowadays, lotus plants are being cultivated in several Hà Nội suburban districts for eco-tourism development. The lotus plant and its parts are high-quality raw material for textile and fragrance and starch processing. Among these, there is the "one-of-a-kind" lotus silk produced by artisan Phan Thị Thuận, as well as the Tây Hồ lotus-scented tea – famous for its pure flavour; or the savoury food dishes made from lotus and its sub-material by local villagers in the ancient Đường Lâm Village – all are unique tourism products that attract many visitors.

Aiming to celebrate the cultural heritage and economic significance of the lotus in the region, the festival has featured a variety of lively activities, including the semi-live art performance Chuyện Của Sen (The Story of Lotus), the awarding ceremony of the photo contest "Beauty in Áo Dài and Lotus", a workshop on Vietnamese lotus preservation and promotion, and a music concert dedicating to late composer Trịnh Công Sơn who is dubbed as “Việt Nam’s Bob Dylan”.

The inauguration of the OCOP Promotion Centre in Tây Hồ District also was among the festival’s agenda.

Especially, at the festival’s opening ceremony, the Vietnamese record organisation VietKings has presented two new Vietnamese record for the largest number of people participating in the bicycle ride “The Colours of Tây Hồ Lotus” with 7,000 participants, and the largest number of people wearing traditional Vietnamese áo dài with lotus flower patterns with 1,000 participants.

These records highlight the massive public participation and celebration of the lotus flower's cultural significance in the region.

Alongside the other events, there was an event introducing OCOP products of the northern mountainous provinces. More than 1,000 OCOP products and regional specialties of 33 provinces and cities across the country have been showcased at this event.

This large-scale OCOP exhibition highlights the diverse range of local products and specialties from the various provinces in northern Việt Nam, providing a platform to promote the cultural heritage and economic potential of these regional goods.

Chargé d'Affaires of the Lao Embassy in Việt Nam, Latana Siharaj speaks at the opening ceremony of the festival “The Colour of Hà Nội Lotus”.

In her remarks at the festival, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Lao Embassy in Việt Nam, Latana Siharaj, shared that similar to Việt Nam, the lotus flower is deeply connected to the Lao people and many other Asian countries as well.

She expressed delight that the Lao Embassy in Hà Nội, along with several other foreign embassies, have the opportunity to participate in this festival and introduce the role of the lotus flower in Lao culture.

Culture and society is also one of the three pillars of ASEAN; within this, cultural exchange and strengthening mutual understanding is the shortest path to help the people of ASEAN countries to be closer together, all striving towards a peaceful, prosperous and developing ASEAN.

According to the Lao diplomat official, embassies in Hà Nội always attach great importance to promoting cultural exchange activities to strengthen friendship and cooperation between the countries.

“Events like this [lotus festival] not only help us better understand the culture and traditions of the host country, but also create opportunities to share values ​​and experiences from many different countries,” she said.

Artists present an art performance at the opening ceremony of the festival “The Colour of Hà Nội Lotus”.

The festival aims to promote and honour the beauty and cultural values ​​of Thăng Long – Hà Nội, the land of West Lake, and lotus – the flower that symbolises the spirit and identity of the Vietnamese soul. Through the festival, distinctive values ​​of the traditional job of making lotus-scented tea and the unique characteristics of lotus culture in Vietnamese life have been introduced to visitors and tourists. VNS