HÀ NỘI — A festival honouring roses—their beauty, the art of growing them and the products they can yield—will be held at the Thăng Long Rose Park from October 14-22.

The event ’Golden Autumn on Rose Garden’ is the first of its kind in the capital. Đào Mạnh Hùng, the park’s director, said that the event will help participants learn about the history of roses and connects rose lovers together.

Three hundred different species of roses will be on display at the rose park located in Hà Nội’s Thanh Trì District. Located in Huỳnh Cung Village, the park has long been a favoured destination for rose lovers in the capital.

With a total area of around 45,000sq.m, it is the largest park of its kind in the city and houses thousands of rose plants, including over 300 world-famous varieties.

At the five-day event, visitors will have the opportunity to admire a special áo dài (traditional dress) collection by designer Vũ Việt Hà, who was inspired by the world’s most beautiful roses to honour Vietnamese women’s beauty.

Attendees can also enjoy rose tea from Bulgaria, meet with “Queen Rose” Bùi Thị Thanh Hương-- who won the title at the first-ever Bulgarian Rose Festival in Hà Nội last year, sponsored by the Bulgarian Embassy-- and enjoy concerts of various love songs performed by the capital’s street artists.

Experts will share stories about the origins of roses and instruct visitors on how to take care of rose plants.

There will also be awards given to the houses with the most beautiful rose-decorated balconies.

Various kinds of rose plants, souvenirs made from roses and cosmetics from Bulgaria will be sold at the event with discount prices.

The opening ceremony of the event will be occur at 9am on October 14. The entry fee is VNĐ50,000 per person (US$2.2). — VNS