Adding More Colors to the Da Lat Flower Festival

Da Lat Flower Festival Connects Growers with Visitors

With 26 years in flower cultivation, Bui Huu Duc, a resident of Thai Phuoc residential quarter in Lam Vien–Da Lat Ward, has many memories of the Da Lat Flower Festival. For him, the event is not only when streets burst into color, but also an opportunity for flower growers to introduce their products to a wider range of visitors.

Looking back over the years, Duc has witnessed significant changes in Da Lat’s flower market. Following successive festivals, Da Lat’s flowers have gained wider recognition, with markets gradually expanding both domestically and internationally. For growers, access to more markets means greater sales opportunities and less reliance on a handful of buyers.

“Expanding the market makes things easier for flower growers and helps improve their livelihoods,” Duc said.

Coming from a family with a long tradition of flower growing, Duc understands that bringing a single flower stem to market requires a lengthy process of care, while growers must also contend with weather conditions and market fluctuations. That is why he is always willing to open his garden to visitors during the festival.

Visitors can do more than simply admire the flowers. They can talk with growers and learn about the entire process, from planting and tending the flowers to harvesting them for sale. This helps visitors better understand the work behind each flower stem and appreciate the products they take home.

For Duc, opening his garden is also a way for growers to tell the story of their profession. Seeing firsthand where the flowers are grown allows visitors to experience more than a flower display. It creates a connection between growers and consumers, bringing the story of Da Lat’s flowers closer to the public.

Mai Xuan Long, director of the Dat Lang General Agricultural Services Cooperative in Truong Xuan residential quarter, Xuan Truong–Da Lat Ward, is taking a similar approach with wind-dried persimmons. For around 10 years, he has regularly participated in product exhibitions held as part of the Da Lat Flower Festival. With each edition, he has seen growing public interest in the cooperative’s products.

This year, all 28 cooperative members are looking forward to a successful festival season. Alongside showcasing their wind-dried persimmons, they are ready to welcome visitors to their production facilities, where people can explore, take photographs and learn how the product is made.

Long believes this is a practical way to promote local products. Rather than seeing them only at retail outlets, visitors can go to the places where they are made, meet the producers and hear their stories firsthand.

Preserving Distinctive Local Values

For Long, the story of persimmons goes beyond the finished product. What he values most are the persimmon trees that have grown in Xuan Truong for decades, with some approaching 100 years old.

Long explains that the techniques and technology used to make wind-dried persimmons can be learned and adopted elsewhere. However, Da Lat’s growing areas and the distinctive characteristics of its persimmons are difficult to replicate. Traditional varieties such as trung loc, trung lua and vuong dong are known for their rich sweetness and abundant natural sugars, giving them a distinctive character.

The expansion of wind-dried persimmon production now provides local residents with jobs and more stable incomes, while helping preserve a specialty associated with Da Lat.

In Lang Biang–Da Lat Ward, the Da Lat Flower Festival also provides an occasion for community cultural activities. Alongside the main festival programs, the ward organizes supporting events that promote the traditional culture of the K’ho people.

This year’s proposed activities include the Lang Biang Pink Grass Festival, the Lang Biang Rose Festival, a Lang Biang cuisine and ruou can (traditional fermented rice wine) competition, an exhibition of OCOP products, and a bareback horse race.

As a group that has participated in most local competitions and cultural festivals, the Gong Ensemble of the Cultural Family Club is eagerly anticipating the celebrations. Its leader, Pang Ting Mut, previously worked in the local cultural sector and remains deeply concerned about the risk of traditional values fading away.

For him, incorporating culture into tourism is not simply about performing for visitors. It also gives the community more reasons to continue safeguarding the heritage passed down by previous generations.

At each competition and festival, the club showcases distinctive elements of K’ho culture, including gong performances, brocade costumes and traditional dishes. Every product and activity has a story behind it, from the ingredients and preparation methods to the customs associated with community life.

For Pang Ting Mut, the real value lies in helping visitors do more than taste a dish or watch a gong performance. They can also gain a deeper understanding of the culture of the community that created these traditions.

The Lam Dong Provincial People’s Committee is finalizing plans and stepping up preparations for the 11th Da Lat Flower Festival 2026. Local residents are also actively getting ready, not only by decorating their homes and surroundings, but also by contributing products they have made themselves, together with the stories of the crafts, livelihoods and places behind them.