Sketch “Spring of Love, Tet Reunion” for Nguyen Hue Flower Street in the Year of the Dragon 2024

The three segments of the Nguyen Hue Flower Street for Tet 2024 are likened to three movements in a symphony of colors, ranging from the opening "Roots of the Homeland" to the climactic "Crossing Rivers and Seas" and the closing "Integration and Growth." The dominant language throughout the Flower Street this Tet is the traditional cultural elements and longstanding beliefs of the Vietnamese people, harmoniously blended with the cultural identity of the Southern region.

Since its inception in 2004, the Nguyen Hue Flower Street for Tet 2024 has reached its 21st year. This unique project has become a cultural symbol of Tet in Ho Chi Minh City, carried out under the guidance of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, organized by Saigontourist Group, in collaboration with departments, branches, and the participation of businesses in the city.

"Despite economic challenges in 2023, businesses continued to accompany the Nguyen Hue Flower Street for Tet 2024. This demonstrates the significant appeal and importance of this cultural project, and Saigontourist Group is making every effort to create a festive atmosphere, providing a unique Tet experience for the city's residents and visitors from both domestic and international destinations," shared Mr. Truong Duc Hung, General Director of Saigontourist Group and head of the organizing committee for the Nguyen Hue Flower Street for Tet 2024".

Record-breaking Dragon mascot over 100 meters long

The Nguyen Hue Flower Street for Tet 2024 makes a strong impression right from the entrance with two majestic dragon mascots, promising an eagerly anticipated journey to explore the 2024 Flower Street. Named "Twin Dragons Guarding the Lotus," the grand entrance features two dragon mascots, each with five segments of intertwined bodies extending on both sides of the Flower Street, with a length of over 100 meters and a head circumference of over 2 meters. In addition to breaking the record for the size of zodiac animals on Nguyen Hue Flower Street, this year's dragon mascot is environmentally friendly, with over 90% of the shaping material made from bamboo and woven reeds.

The dragon's mouth holds a jade bead with a diameter of 50 cm, simulated with translucent acrylic containing lights. The intertwined bodies of the Twin Dragons create a beautifully decorated canopy, providing a visually pleasing and airy atmosphere for the first segment. As visitors walk under the dragon's body, they can clearly see the materials of woven reeds and bamboo creating the dragon shape, simple yet not monotonous. When the wind blows, the woven reeds under the dragon's belly seem like the Twin Dragons are breathing, offering visitors a unique experience with a rustic and traditional charm, reminiscent of the historical story of the Fairy Dragon, the dragon descending to the human world, bringing good luck for the new year.

The dragon holds a special position in the culture and beliefs of the Vietnamese people, symbolizing the absolute authority of the Heavenly God, ranking highest among the "Four Supernatural Beings: Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise, and Phoenix." The Vietnamese dragon is considered the ancestor of the Vietnamese people in the legend of "Dragon's Child, Fairy's Grandchild," deeply embedded in Vietnamese culture, expressed through paintings, costumes, architecture, boats, dances, and in Dong Ho folk paintings.

The three large dragon mascots on Nguyen Hue Flower Street combine the characteristics of dragons from the Tran, Ly, and Nguyen dynasties, represented by features such as upward-facing heads, large noses, rounded nose tips, bulging eyes, jade bead mouths, and large manes on the cheeks and heads. The sinuous body shape, soaring upward, is a common characteristic of dragons from the Ly and Tran periods, while the tail spread like flames is a feature of Nguyen dynasty dragons. The dragons on Nguyen Hue Flower Street for Tet 2024 showcase carefully selected and refined characteristics, with three main colors: earthy yellow, royal blue, and vermilion red.

Magnificent scenes

The Nguyen Hue Flower Street for Tet this year offers visitors a visual "grand feast" with extremely grand scenes. In the "Bac Ho's Mai Garden" scene, the Binh Loi Mai Village (Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City) continues to accompany the Flower Street, adding a brilliant and humble beauty to this solemn area. In particular, thousands of thin aluminum leaves are hung on the branches of the garden's apricot trees, enhancing the beauty with a sparkling effect that shines day and night.

The "Dragon Boat in Spring Flower" scene, the first segment of section 2, covers the entire width of Nguyen Hue Flower Street and spans an area of up to 900 m2. Despite its size, the scene does not hinder the footsteps of visitors due to its well-arranged decoration and reasonable distribution of flowers and leaves. On the Nguyen Hue Flower Street for Tet 2024, visitors will stroll outside the boat, admiring the flowers on both sides while being able to see the flow in the opposite direction.

Inspired by the dragon boat racing festival, the boat team consists of a main boat, 66 meters long, and five accompanying boats representing the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, each over 9 meters tall, nearly 3 meters high, covered with woven bamboo and reed mats, painted to create patterns. The doubling effect occurs on the large boat thanks to the mirror-like material running along its length. The scene is illuminated by a lighting system installed on 48 rowing oars.

The "One Great Thang Long" scene, the impressive conclusion of the journey to explore the 2024 Flower Street, is also the largest scene on the Flower Street, covering an area of over 1,000 m2. The mascot of the scene is a dragon with its entire body exposed on the ground with four body segments bending 5 meters from the ground, constructed from steel pipes, steel belts, and a steel mesh supported by 15 pillars and a system of LED lights over 100 meters long running along the entire dragon body. The height and length of the scene will challenge the photography skills of visitors, but the captured images will be extremely impressive.

Exhibition Scenes and Consulate Booths at the Consulates of Various Countries

The exhibition scenes are also interesting and experiential points. The dragon eyeglasses, with the seat position as the focal point of the dragon's eyes, can accommodate 3 to 4 people. The back of the seat is adorned with eyebrows and slanted eyes. The lotus pond, covering an area of over 1,000 m2 with giant lotus flowers and leaves, is a combination of two materials: zinc and chiffon fabric.

Interposed between the lotus pond on both sides is the scene of the "Nine Dragon Gates," consisting of nine dragon chairs named after the nine gates of the Mekong River: Tieu, Dai, Ba Lai, Ham Luong, Co Chien, Cung Hau, Ba Thac, Dinh An, and Tran De. Following the theme of the "Mekong River Convergence" on the Flower Street, this scene promises to be a collection of unique photos of the longest river flowing through the territory of Vietnam. The number 9 (cuu) is the largest number in the positive number sequence, known as the extreme positive number, symbolizing goodness and representing the pinnacle in all aspects.

Right in front of the main entrance scene connecting the Flower Street, the scenes of the "Spring Festival" and "Glass Clouds" are arranged sequentially. This is a combination of vibrant yellow and deep pink colors from five fans with diameters ranging from 13 meters to 18 meters and green clouds created by curved glass panels forming circular cloud shapes.

The transition between segments 1 and 2 is the exhibition booths showcasing the artistic flower arrangements of the Consulates of various countries in Ho Chi Minh City. In its fourth consecutive year accompanying Nguyen Hue Flower Street, the collection of artistic flower arrangements from the consulates adds a fresh and delightful charm, emitting a fragrance of elegance, providing new experiences for the city's residents and friends, as well as domestic and international tourists.

Environmentally friendly

Continuing the criterion of enhancing the use of environmentally friendly materials in the design and construction of Nguyen Hue Flower Street in recent years, the Tet Flower Street 2024, after completion, is estimated to have used over 70% of environmentally friendly materials in the total shaping material. The Tet Flower Street 2024 uses three main colors: red, orange, and yellow, with 99 types of flowers such as Carnations, geraniums, dahlias, cockerel, begonias flowers, etc. It is expected that over 90,000 baskets of various flowers will be used for the Tet Flower Street 2024.

Stretching over 600 meters, the Tet Flower Street 2024 integrates cultural values into modern design language, promising to continue creating a memorable experiential space for the city's residents and tourists in the upcoming spring days. The Tet Flower Street 2024 will serve the needs of city dwellers and tourists for spring outings and sightseeing from 7:00 PM on February 7, 2024, to 9:00 PM on February 14, 2024. The construction period for the Flower Street is from 7:00 AM on January 21, 2024, to 12:00 PM on February 7, 2024. The Tet Flower Street 2024 is sponsored by businesses such as Vietcombank - Ho Chi Minh City Branch, Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage Company Limited, Prowtech International Vina Joint Stock Company, Vietnam Airlines and Mai Village - Binh Loi (Ho Chi Minh City).