• Floral arrangement contest from 8 a.m. on December 31 on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street

• A 3,500-square-meter carpet of flowers will be arranged around Xuan Huong Lake Park by the Lam Dong Flower Association and 20 member companies

• A flower and ornamental plant exhibition and flower-product trade show by Vietnamese and international companies from January 1 to 4 at the Da Lat Town flower garden

• A fair featuring flowers from Da Lat from January 2 to 4 on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street

• The opening of the 2010 Da Lat Flower Festival at 8 p.m. January 2 at Xuan Huong Lake to celebrate the 1,000^th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and display Da Lat flowers. On the same day, Da Lat will be conferred recognition as Vietnam’s first “flower festival town” under a decision by the Prime Minister.

There will be several records set to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi at the flower festival. They include a giant flower vase titled Hoan Kiem Lake made by 1,000 locals and tourists that will be displayed on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street and two three-meter-high dragons made of flowers that will be 54 meters long. This number represents the 54 different ethnic minority groups in the country. The dragons, made of sanh (Ficus indica L.) and cum rum (Tsaang-Gubat) trees, will cost VND500 million (US$27,000).

Though not part of the festival, an 18-meter-high statue of Bodhisattva Kwan Yin kept at Linh Phuoc Pagoda and made from more than 600,000 bat tu (helichrysum bracteatum), also known as strawflowers and everlasting flowers, has also been registered as a record.

Reported by Lam Vien