(VOVWORLD) - The 44th Ho Chi Minh City Spring Flower Festival opened on Tuesday to celebrate the Lunar New Year of the Dragon. The event shows off the southern region’s unique culture and provides an exchange venue for Vietnamese and foreign artisans and gardeners.
 A dragon mascot at Ho Chi Minh City's Spring Flower Festival. (Photo: VNA) |
Activities and landscape designs at the Spring Flower Festival this year highlight the theme "Spring of love – Tet reunion".
Ho Chi Minh City’s Spring Flower Festival features a 50-year-old apricot tree from An Giang province, a 40-year-old 3-meter-high apricot tree from Thu Duc city, a collection of artistic porcelain flowers which are 2.7 to 3 meters high, and several varieties of orchids.
A wooden tea table named "Dragon and Fairy", carved in the shape of the map of Vietnam, is on public display for the first time. A 2-meter-high wooden artwork called "Loving Country" celebrates the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.
Another captivating wood sculpture by artist Nguyen Truong Tien features 9 dragons.
“My work ‘9 dragons fighting for a pearl’ has set a Vietnamese record. Today, Vietnam is rising internationally and I want to express my pride in this work,” said Tien.
 Various kinds of flowers are displayed at the Flower Festival. (Photo: ttdn.vn) |
The Festival is crowded with visitors. “There are many ancient trees with beautiful shapes," said a local resident.
“It’s bustling. The scenery is beautiful and brilliant. The Festival is a typical cultural event in Ho Chi Minh City and I come here every year,” a visitor said.
The Spring Flower Festival has been held annually since 1981. It will be open until next Thursday.