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Tet flower street held for first time at Thang Long Imperial Citadel

More than a seasonal attraction, the flower street also functions as a formal cultural venue for receiving ambassadors, their spouses and representatives of diplomatic missions attending the Vietnam Discovery Day 2026 programme. Its linkage with an external event further reinforces the Thang Long Imperial Citadel’s position as a key platform for introducing Vietnam’s cultural identity to international friends.

A Tet flower street is held for the first time at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel during the Lunar New Year 2026. (Photo: VNA)
A Tet flower street is held for the first time at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel during the Lunar New Year 2026. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi has added a distinctive highlight to its 2026 cultural and external activities with the inaugural Tet Flower Street arranged within the World Cultural Heritage Site of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, welcoming residents as well as domestic and international visitors during the Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival.

More than a seasonal attraction, the flower street also functions as a formal cultural venue for receiving ambassadors, their spouses and representatives of diplomatic missions attending the Vietnam Discovery Day 2026 programme. Its linkage with an external event further reinforces the Thang Long Imperial Citadel’s position as a key platform for introducing Vietnam’s cultural identity to international friends.

Recognised by UNESCO in 2010 as the capital’s first World Cultural Heritage Site, the Thang Long Imperial Citadel embodies over a millennium of history as the seat of the imperial capital of Thang Long–Hanoi. Hosting the Tet flower street within this heritage site offers a novel and meaningful way for the public to experience the traditional Lunar New Year in close association with history and national cultural values.

As the model is being staged at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel for the first time, organisers have placed particular emphasis on balancing spring decorations with conservation requirements, ensuring full respect for the site’s historical, architectural and spatial integrity.

Centred on the theme “Dawn of aspiration”, the flower street symbolises the transition from the legacy of a thousand-year-old imperial capital to Hanoi’s development ambitions in a new era. The experience is organised into four chapters, leading visitors through layers of heritage, historical depth and a forward-looking vision.

Flowers are employed as a “soft material of time” to accentuate the citadel’s architecture and spatial axes. Northern specialties such as Dien pomelo, kumquat and peach blossoms are combined with ripening rice sheaves in multi-layered arrangements. Subtle lighting, together with natural materials like bamboo and wood, helps preserve the site’s inherent atmosphere — solemn, reflective and deeply rooted in history.

The event runs from the 23rd day of the last lunar month of the Year of the Snake to the sixth day of the Lunar New Year (February 10–22)./.

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