Four new records for food are expected to be set at the Tet (Lunar New Year) flower festival in a Mekong Delta city, known as the delta region’s largest flower growing area, next month.

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The Vietnam Book of Records (Vietkings), which recognizes extraordinary local feats and events, will present the record certificates to the authorities of Sa Dec City in Dong Thap Province during the Spring Flower Festival from the 24th day of the current lunar year's 12th month to the third day of the Lunar New Year, or from February 12 to 21.   This year’s Tet begins on February 19.

At the spring festival, the record association will recognize a bowl of “hu tieu” (stretchy rice noodles served with pork, fish, and shrimp), a Mekong Delta delicacy, and a roll of “banh phong tom” (shrimp chip), one of Dong Thap’s specialties, as the country’s largest.

The bowl of “hu tieu” measures 150 centimeters in diameter, stands 70 centimeters tall, and has a capacity of 900 liters.

It is expected to be served to 1,000 visitors.

Accompanying the bowl is a saucer which measures 150 centimeters in diameter, a stainless steel spoon which is 130 centimeters long, and a pair of 200 centimeter-long wooden chopsticks.

Meanwhile, the roll of “banh phong tom” is 2.2 meters long, weighs 160 kilograms, and is 0.4 meters in diameter.

The other two records will be given to the country’s largest rose-shaped cakes, made of Sa Dec flour, and largest cuisine competition for dishes made of the same ingredient.

The city’s spring festival will also mark the inauguration of the first phase of the construction of the Sa Nhien-Cai Dao flower street.

The street is one of four major steps toward building Sa Dec into a flower city of the Mekong Delta, a local official told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.        

The flower street, located in Tan Quy Dong Commune, measures over 2.3km in length and 7.5m in width.

The project, which costs some VND15 billion (US$707,550), will leave the flower street lined with flower fields, gardens, and showrooms.

The city will also arrange flowers in themes so that they will bloom all year round on the street, which is expected to grow into one of the city’s new tourist attractions

At its spring festival held in late January last year, the city also earned a national record for the country’s largest basket of fresh flowers.

Vietnam's largest basket of fresh flowers is seen in this photo taken on January 28, 2014 in the Mekong Delta city of Sa Dec. Photo: Viet Toan/Tuoi Tre News

The giant basket, which stood 15.4 meters tall and had a diameter of 16.1 meters, was embellished with 3,150 component baskets of fresh flowers.

A 400-hectare flower growing area in Sa Dec, some 120 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, has established itself as the Mekong Delta’s most prominent flower garden over the past century.

Unlike several other flower cities nationwide, Sa Dec’s fields yield flowers all year round.

Several hundred breeds of flowers bloom throughout the city, particularly prior to Tet, creating stunning spectacles for visitors.      The city is striving to become a major flower exporter and a bustling tourist hub in the Mekong Delta.

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