Spring flower fest heralds Tet festivies in Saigon expat-favored district

The festival, which has been organized annually since 2012, will be held until January 29, the fifth day of the first lunar month.

This year, the event is themed ‘Ruoc loc dong hoa’ (Welcoming luck from flower gardens) and recreates a Vietnamese rural setting.

Statues of rats, the zodiac animal of the upcoming Lunar New Year, are on display. A family of rats will welcome visitors to the festival.

As in previous years, the festival fair has a spring road, a spring wharf, and a spring garden, covering an area of seven hectares.

The spring road extends 700 meters on Ton Dat Tien Street, displaying flowers sourced from all parts of Vietnam, while the spring wharf presents the traditional view of a floating flower market in the country. The spring garden offers flowers and vegetables of many varieties from the country's different localities.

The five flower fields of chrysanthemum, sunflower, periwinkle, and cosmos are an arresting sight at the festival.

Phu My Hung, around eight kilometers from the city center, houses a large expat community.

Night splendor of Phu My Hung urban area in District 7. Photo by Shutterstock/Anh Minh.

Besides the Phu My Hung flower festival, one of the most anticipated events of the holiday season is the annual Nguyen Hue flower street, which will open to visitors from 7 p.m. on January 22, two days before the Lunar New Year’s Eve. It will remain open until January 28.

The Year of the Rat will begin this year on January 25. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a seven-day holiday that will start on January 23, 2020, two days before the Lunar New Year's Eve.