HÀ NỘI — The Đà Lạt Flower Festival 2017 will kick off on December 23 in Đà Lạt city, with a range of cultural events.

“The festival is a cultural and tourism event of Lâm Đồng Province, which aims to promote trade and tourism investment, as well as agricultural products and tourism of the locality. The event is also meant to promote Bảo Lộc silk and recognise and honour the value of flowers and the flower industry in Đà Lạt. It is also an opportunity for the local flower growers and tea growers to develop their business,” said Chairman of Đà Lạt City’s People’s Committee, Võ Ngọc Hiệp.

With the theme, Đà Lạt Flower – The Magic Quintessence from Soil, the five-day festival will feature a range of events and activities to showcase the locality’s characteristic agricultural products and diverse tourism products.  

An art performance programme will be held on December 23 to open the festival.

Đà Lạt City’s streets, parks and tourism spots will be donned with a wide range of fresh and colorful flowers grown locally in Lâm Đồng Province.

An international flower and bonsai exhibition, to be held from December 23 to January 2 next year, will attract local and foreign individuals, organisations, businesses and flower artisans. A flower arrangement competition to be held on December 25, is expected to showcase the skills of the flower artisans.

One of the highlights of the festival is the Lâm Đồng Tea and Silk Culture Week. At the Tea and Silk Night, to be held on December 25, the province will hold a ceremony to receive a recognised brand name for Bảo Lộc silk. A fashion show by designer Minh Hạnh will be held the following day, featuring unique and high-quality designs made from Bảo Lộc silk and brocade.

A trade fair and exhibition will introduce fine arts and crafts, as well as tea, coffee and silk products in the culture week. A workshop discussing solutions to develop the silk, tea and brocade industry in the locality will be held by the Việt Nam Tea Association and the Việt Nam Silk Association on December 26.

A tea harvesting competition to be held in the tea farms is expected to create an energetic atmosphere for the festival. Festival-goers will also have a chance to join the farm trips to tea farms to get an insight on the tea caring, harvesting and processing procedures.

In the framework of the festival, which is held every two years, a film screening week, golf and skating competitions are also organised.

The Đà Lạt Flower Festival 2015 attracted 400,000 visitors, with foreigners accounting for 10 per cent.

Lâm Đồng is currently one of the leading localities of the country in producing high quality vegetables and flowers. With more than 8,000ha of a flower-growing farm, the flower yield was nearly 3 million branches in 2016.

Đà Lạt City is the mainstay of flower production in the province, with its yield accounting for nearly 70 per cent. In 2012, Đà Lạt was recognised as the Flower Festival City of Việt Nam.

Currently, the city has more than 400 varieties of flowers, which include local flowers and those from other countries such as Japan, Thailand, the Netherlands, France and Australia. Orchids and chrysanthemums are the two most popular flowers grown. — VNS