The festival attracted a large number of visitors to shop at nearly 20 booths displaying traditional banh chung (square sticky rice cake) and local agricultural products.

Typical among those displayed are the square sticky rice cakes of Hoang An and Hoang Van communes; sticky rice from Bac Ly and Thai Son communes; vegetables from Hoang Luong commune; and Mai Trung pomelo.

A lot of tourists visit and buy traditional products.

One of the highlights of the festival was a ‘chung’ cake wrapping contest for 12 teams coming from Hoang An, Hoang Van and Thai Son communes.

Within 25 minutes, each team (three members) had to wrap up five cakes, cut and arrange cake pieces in a plate in the best way. With the fastest, skillful wrapping, and beautiful cake arrangement, the team of Nguyen Thi Toan from Hoang Lien village, Hoang An commune was awarded the first prize by the Organizing Board.

‘Chung’ cake and ‘gio’ cake are two traditional products favored by many tourists.

The festival has been organized for many years as an initiative of the Fatherland Front Committee and socio-political organizations of Hiep Hoa district.

Chairman of the Hiep Hoa district People's Committee Hoang Cong Bo and the sponsor award the first prize to the winning team.

It helps encourage the movement of doing good business and production, raise awareness among production households of preserving and promoting the traditional cultural identity of the nation, and actively promote agricultural brands of the homeland to tourists.

Leaders of the Hiep Hoa district People's Committee and Organizing Board take photos with teams participating in the ‘chung’ cake wrapping contest.

This is also an opportunity for the locality to encourage organizations and businesses to join hands to take care of the poor so that they can enjoy spring and celebrate Tet (Lunar New Year).

It is estimated that at this year’s event, families sold more than 2,000 ‘chung’ cakes and many other typical local products.

Vietnam 13th Party Congress gathers to pick new leadership

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam kicks off the 13th Party Congress in Hanoi with a preparation session Monday.

13th National Party Congress – milestone of Party, nation

The 13th National Party Congress, to open next week, is a milestone in the development of the Party and the nation, according to a high-ranking Party official.

Mai Toan