Youngsters pose for a photo at the Spring Festival
The Mau Tuat Spring Festival 2018 is held from 27th of lunar December of the Year of the Rooster to the 5th of lunar January of the Year of the Dog (Feb 12 to Feb 20). Previously, the Spring Flower Festival was also held in Phu Van Lau (Pavilion of Edicts), and 250,000 flowers were decorated at the parks, green spots, and the main roads of the city.
The main gate of the Spring Festival is located at the center of the square of Quoc Hoc Stele with yellow apricot blossom and sacred animals as main ornamenting patterns. The spring festival features the unique traits of the Vietnamese traditional new year with the “Xuân sum vầy” (gathering new year) miniature; the space of Viet’s Tet bathed in traditional characteristics manifested by simple and close items such as the “Mâm ngũ quả” (five-fruit trays), “bánh chưng’ (square glutinous rice cakes), “bánh tét” (cylindrical glutinous rice cakes), parallel sentences and lotus ponds; and cute-looking puppies - the mascot of the New Year.
Seugi Kim, a Japanese tourist poses for a photo with “Ông đồ” who gave her calligraphic characters
In addition to artistic flower carpets and the roofed long-corridor system, the organizers arranged elegant lighting systems, a “spring fountain" displayed by the flows of real flowers, mannequins holding flowers, and Hue calligraphy space which calligraphic characters are given by “Ông đồ” (Scholars) to visitors as an exquisite manner on the occasion of new year.
The festival is also the exhibition of 589 artworks, including 335 bonsais of all sizes, 21 bronze paintings, and 60 calligraphic, 129 stone and 24 agarwood works.
As for the festive activities, the Spring Festival 2018 is a great entertaining source for visitors with folk games, cultural activities, and martial arts hosted by the City’s Sports Center.
Story and photos: Phuoc Ly