Cultural festivals are considered one of key products of Da Lat tourism. The fact has showed that cultural festivals featuring characteristics of Da Lat people, land and culture over the recent times have created new impetus, enhancing the attractiveness of Da Lat tourism.

A VOVNews reporter talked with Nguyen Vu Hoang, director of the Centre for Da Lat cultural festivals. Director Hoang always has new ideas and incentives in organising cultural festivals for tourist purposes.

Reporter: How many cultural festivals have been held in Da Lat City to date?

Mr Hoang: We have held a quite number of cultural festivals which feature Da Lat’s unique characteristics, including flower festivals, tea culture festivals, wine festivals and most recently the Vespa festival.

The cultural festivals have helped attract a great deal of tourists to the city. For example, the Flower Festival in 2005 attracted approximately 200,000 visitors. The recent Vespa festival, though small in scale, lured more than 500 Vespa riders and over 60,000 tourists.

In the near future, we plan to hold specific festivals for different groups of people. For instance, we will open a festival celebrating Atiso tea, because Atiso is not only a type of herbal medicine, it can make many good dishes. Moreover, we have many unique products, such as vegetables and strawberries. All these specific products can be promoted through festivals.

In addition, we are able to take new ideas from festival organisers throughout the country. If festival organisers find it difficult to open a festival in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, they will be welcomed in Da Lat City.

Reporter: The flower festival is held every two years. Therefore, is there anything new in this year’s flower festival?

Mr Hoang: The flower festival 2007 will be held from December 15-22. We will focus on activities which are interactive for participants, particuarly tourists. The festival will include an international flower festival, an international trade fair, a street festival and even a beauty contest of Vietnamese ethnic minorities. In addition, some other smaller events will also be included in the festival, such as the rose and chocolate night for lovers and an evening dance performance.

Another new feature of the Flower festival 2007 is the programme: tourists, sights and flowers. Accordingly, tourist sights will be decorated with more new flower parks, flower valleys, and flower castles. Depending on the characteristics of each place, we will choose specific types of flowers.

We also encourage offices, schools, hotels and houses to display flowers and will present awards to those who have the nicest flower work.

Reporter: The Vespa festival was held for the first time in Da Lat and the country. You are the creator of the festival. Where did your idea come from?

Mr Hoang: The festival was held to meet demands from Vespa riders. They need a place to meet and display their scooters. Though Da Lat does not have many Vespa scooters in comparison with Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, the city has an ideal space and atmosphere to hold the festival.

The festival was so successful that many Vespa lovers want to turn it into an annual event. We were glad to receive such a suggestion and will think of how to realize it.

Reporter:  You are known to have many original ideas. So, do you have any idea to open more cultural festivals in Da Lat City?

Mr Hoang: Da Lat City has only two periods of time to organize festivals: from October to November and from January to April. The rest of the year the weather just isn’t suitable. Visitors would feel unhappy if they visited Da Lat City in the rainy season. Therefore, we are thinking of organizing festivals which involve wet-weather activities like cycling around Xuan Huong Lake in the rain or playing water games for children on rainy days. Blowing bubbles or playing football in the rain are not bad ideas. I loved these games a lot when I was a child. We may help lovers go for a walk under an umbrella on rainy days. This sounds romantic and suits the scenery of Da Lat. They are still only ideas, but hopefully we’ll see them happening in the future.

Reporter: Thank you very much.