For the first time, Dong Giang district, Quang Nam province organizes a festival for A Rieu chili peppers.

The first A Rieu Chili Festival promises to connect tours and tourist routes to the mountainous district of Dong Giang, Quang Nam province. The purpose of the festival is to introduce and promote tourism and local agricultural products, especially A Rieu chili products, thereby connecting supply and demand, connecting tours and tourist routes to Dong Giang district.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr. Le Van Dung - Chairman of Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee emphasized: "The first A Rieu Chili Festival will be held as an activity associated with agricultural product development and eco-tourism in Dong Giang district to contribute to honoring and affirming the value, origin and brand of A Rieu chili of Quang Nam province in general and Dong Giang in particular, contributing to the pride in the image of people and homeland of Dong Giang, Quang Nam.

Mr. Le Van Dung - Chairman of Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee delivered the opening speech of the first A Rieu Chili Festival in 2024. Photo: PT

Through the series of events of the first A Rieu Chili Festival in 2024, with the expectation of opening a channel for trade promotion, stimulating consumption and exchanging experiences and information on the application of scientific and technological advances and being a bridge between production and consumption, creating opportunities for businesses and producers to sign contracts for product consumption".

On this occasion, a signing ceremony of the contract to purchase A Rieu chili products took place between representatives of Dong Giang Heaven Gate Eco-tourism Area and Ma Cooih Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative. This is an effort of the enterprise with the desire to create sustainable livelihoods for the people, affirm the quality, enhance the reputation and brand of A Rieu chili in the Vietnamese agricultural market, promote the image, potential and advantages of Dong Giang district in particular, Quang Nam province in general, contributing to socio-economic development.

Leaders of Quang Nam province and delegates visit the booth displaying A Rieu chili products. Photo: PT

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FVG Group, representative of Dong Giang Heaven Gate Eco-tourism Area, said: "The A Rieu Chili Festival is an opportunity to bring many visual experiences to consumers, creating a unique cultural - tourism product with the identity and brand of Dong Giang. Specifically, FVG Group cooperates with a number of communes in the district to create stable output, supporting local people. The unit will cooperate to sell the first trial batch of 4,000 jars of salted A Rieu chili in the tourist area".

The first A Rieu Chili Festival was held with the participation of 11 communes and towns. During the festival, Dong Giang Heaven Gate Eco-tourism Area will be open completely free of charge to the Co Tu people in Quang Nam province with the hope that it will be an opportunity for people to participate in unique cultural activities during the festival, visit and experience free services at the tourist area.

Representatives of Dong Giang Heaven Gate Eco-tourism Area and Ma Cooih Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative signed a contract to purchase A Rieu chili products. Photo: PT

Many impressive cultural and tourism activities were organized at the festival such as: opening and closing art programs, photo exhibitions of agricultural products and OCOP products, culinary displays, presentation competitions to promote local traditional cuisine and A Rieu chili products, gong and drum dance competitions with sacred fire, reenactment of the A Rieu chili sacred object procession ritual... helping visitors and locals to visit and experience the unique cultural space of the festival.

In addition, people and tourists can also participate in many unique art activities, imbued with the indigenous cultural identity of the local people of Quang Nam province, with many recreational sports activities such as: slingshot shooting, swimming, A Rieu chili eating contest with Quang noodles, the Great Forest Dance show and cultural exchanges....

A Rieu chili is one of the important spices in dishes and has become a part of the culture of the Co Tu people living in the Truong Son mountain range. Photo: PT

At this festival, people and tourists can also visit the space to promote and introduce "Dong Giang Agricultural Products Fair 2024" with a scale of 7 booths of typical local agricultural and forestry products, especially products related to A Rieu chili.

For a long time, A Rieu chili has been one of the important spices in dishes and has become a part of the culture of the Co Tu people living in the Truong Son mountain range. A Rieu in the Co Tu language means the starling bird. The A Rieu chili in the Dong Giang region was named after the legend of the starling bird eating the chili growing in the forest, thereby spreading the seeds throughout the mountains and forests.

The festival is an opportunity to introduce and promote tourism and local agricultural products, especially A Rieu chili products, thereby connecting supply and demand, connecting tours and tourist routes to Dong Giang district. Photo: PT

Thanks to the unique soil and climate conditions, the chili variety is quite small in size, has a very unique spicy and aromatic flavor, very different from chili varieties in other places. This is a product with commercial value, suitable for consumer tastes and brings high income to the people.

Over the past years, in order to preserve, enhance the value and build a unique brand of A Rieu chili, form a specialized area for producing A Rieu chili in the direction of goods, improve production capacity and income for people, Dong Giang district has implemented a project to preserve and develop A Rieu chili in Ma Cooih commune according to the planning period 2022 - 2025 with an area in the district reaching 50 hectares.

Source: https://danviet.vn/lan-dau-tien-huyen-dong-giang-tinh-quang-nam-to-chuc-le-hoi-cho-trai-ot-a-rieu-20240815113809362.htm