Hanoi opens series of activities to honor the value of lotus flowers

On the evening of July 12, at the Cultural and Creative Space of Tay Ho District (Hanoi), the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People's Committee of Tay Ho District jointly organized the opening ceremony of the Hanoi Lotus Festival and introduced OCOP products associated with the culture of the northern mountainous provinces in 2024.

Attending the program were comrade Nguyen Thi Tuyen, member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee.

Vietnam is a country with many precious lotus varieties. Lotus has been associated with Vietnamese people's lives since ancient times and is considered the "national flower". Among them, the most unique is the Hundred-leaf Lotus in West Lake. This lotus variety has about 100 petals, large flowers, and a strong fragrance.

Since ancient times, Hanoians have used lotus to infuse tea, forming a culture of enjoying lotus tea. Nowadays, almost all parts of the lotus plant are exploited for food, medicine or even in weaving, with rare lotus silk.

In order to honor and promote the value of lotus, the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People's Committee of Tay Ho District jointly organized the Hanoi Lotus Festival 2024.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen said: "Lotus is being developed in many suburban districts of Hanoi associated with eco-tourism and as high-quality raw materials for the textile, flavoring and starch industries. Among them, West Lake lotus tea is famous for its quintessential flavor of heaven and earth; lotus dishes are a unique culinary tourism product attracting visitors in the ancient village of Duong Lam...

Hanoi is focusing on developing lotus as part of its strategy to restructure the agricultural sector in association with urban agriculture and tourism development. This is one of the important contents in transforming the crop and livestock structure to suit the urbanization process and build a sustainable ecological urban area.

The Organizing Committee awarded certificates to groups and individuals with many contributions to the organization of the Hanoi Lotus Festival 2024.

Hanoi Lotus Festival associated with the culture of the northern mountainous provinces in 2024 is a series of many unique cultural events.

Of which, two events were awarded Vietnam record certificates: the Green Journey “Sac Sen Tay Ho” - the cycling festival around West Lake with the largest number of participants in Vietnam (7,000 people) and the event with the largest number of people wearing traditional ao dai with lotus motifs (1,000 people).

Other important highlights include the display and introduction of lotus products, with the highlight being the glass portrait of Uncle Ho, made from nearly 2,000 photos of lotus from different regions, and the painting “Thang Long Huyen Dieu Hoa” made from more than 20,000 lotus flowers. These two paintings were introduced for the first time to the people of the capital and domestic and international tourists.

Art performance honoring the beauty of lotus.

Tay Ho District Cultural and Creative Space is organized into spaces to introduce and demonstrate products: Lotus flowers, lotus silk, lotus tea, lotus sticky rice, lotus rolls, lotus dishes, lotus decorative products, lotus handicrafts; displaying representatives of some lotus varieties from regions across the country and some precious lotus varieties of Vietnam and Hanoi...

There are also 100 booths from 33 provinces and cities across the country displaying and promoting more than 1,000 OCOP products and regional specialties.

The festival also attracted the attention of the public and experts in the fields of agriculture and tourism with activities such as: Workshop on conservation and development of Vietnamese lotus, Exhibition of lotus installation art space, Exhibition of lotus photos in Vietnamese life, Conference on "Upgrading service quality and connecting tourist destinations of Tay Ho district with travel businesses in Hanoi in 2024", Music night "Trinh Cong Son and friends", ...

In addition, there are response activities including: Program "Lotus connects love" to visit and give gifts to Vietnamese Heroic Mothers and policy families in the district; Photo contest "Beauty, Ao Dai and Lotus".

On the opening night, the public enjoyed an attractive semi-realistic art performance with the theme "The Story of Lotus".

The program features hundreds of professional and amateur singers and actors. The festival ends on July 16.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/ha-noi-khai-mac-chuoi-hoat-dong-ton-vinh-gia-tri-hoa-sen-post818875.html