Ho Chi Minh City has become more colorful thanks to a number of flower festivals organized to bring the atmosphere of Tet (Vietnam's Lunar New Year) to both local people and foreign tourists.

The 34th annual Spring Flower Fest kicked off Saturday at Tao Dan Park and Ho Con Rua (Turtle Lake) in District 1.

This year, the event boasts a wide range of rare ornamental plants and birds brought together from across the country, vegetable carving booths, a Japanese Koi fish contest, music performances, and dragon and lion dances.

A kid zone has also been put up at the festival with folk games, music and puppet performances, providing children with a place to enjoy Tet with their families.

Spring Flower Fest will run until February 5. An entrance ticket costs VND20,000 (US$1). Admission is free for children under 12. Meanwhile, Nguyen Hue Flower Street, a famous annual destination for the Tet festivities in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, is set to open to visitors from 7:00 pm on January 28 throughout February 3.

Themed “Ho Chi Minh City – The City I Love”, the street is now full of flowers arranged into different shapes and patterns to reflect a combination of modern city elements and countryside features, with a view to exposing visitors to the village atmosphere right in the middle of a big and crowded city.

Nearly 100,000 pots of flowers have been used to decorate the area, according to the organizers.

Approximately 30 percent of the flowers come from the Sa Dec flower village in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap while the remainder was transported from Da Lat City and other municipal regions.

In addition, a huge set of instruments used for “don ca tai tu,” a genre of traditional Vietnamese music recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in December last year, will also be on show on the street.

Last year, thousands of travelers flocked to Nguyen Hue Street to enjoy the Tet atmosphere there on the opening day alone.

Numerous other calligraphy and painting festivals have also been organized around the southern city, offering modern citizens chances to learn more about the traditional Tet holiday.