The Flower Festival on Nguyen Hue Street in Ho Chi Minh City opened on February 7.
Politburo member Le Hong Anh, President of the municipal People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan and thousands of local residents and overseas visitors attended the event.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Hua Ngoc Thuan said the 10 th Nguyen Hue flower festival is an annual cultural event to present the image of the city to international friends.
The festival conveys a message of national strength and will enhance solidarity to help Vietnam preserve its sovereignty and become a civilised country.
Different decorative themes stretch along Nguyen Hue Street reflecting Vietnamese nature, culture and people, as well as the solidarity of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups.
The “spring on island” section illustrates the country’s sovereignty in the East Sea , and expresses Vietnamese people’s desire to maintain regional and international peace.
On the same day, the city also launched the 3 rd Book Festival on the streets of Mac Thi Buoi, Nguyen Hue and Ngo Duc Ke in district No 1.
The festival, themed “books and 54 ethnic groups”, drew the attention of 12 publishing houses and book distribution companies.
The 223 books on culture, costume, place-names and historical relics served as an information resource about the nation’s ethnic groups.
The festival also exhibits maps, documents and publications to raise awareness of the country’s island and sea sovereignty.
It also introduces to participants 207 book titles provided by the Vietnam National Border Committee and Scientific Library.
Meanwhile, a 2013 Flower Spring Festival began on Bach Dang Street in central Da Nang city.
With 100,000 flower baskets and costing over 17 billion VND, it is the first and largest flower festival organised by the city.-VNA
