Ho Chi Minh City is planning six major events to celebrate Tet in February 2010, its People’s Committee said.

Nguyen Hue flower street in Tet holidays of 2009 ( photo K K )

The Nguyen Hue Flower Street, an annual event that is highly popular with the public, themed Xuan binh minh (The dawn of Spring) this year, will be held from February 11 to 16. The lunar New Year falls on the 14th.

The Tet flower show on Nguyen Hue Boulevard in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City will be riot of colors and fragrances. A traditional music performance and folk games will be organized on Le Loi Boulevard on the closing day.

One of the highlights will be the Banh Tet (cylindrical glutinous rice cake) festival features Banh Tet making competition.

There will be Banh Tet ceremonies at the Hung Kings temple in District 9 and Ton Duc Thang museum in District 1. The kings are the mythical founders of the nation.

Cakes will be gifted to poor families and disadvantaged children on February 13.

Fireworks shows will be held at seven places around the city and broadcast live on Ho Chi Minh Television on New Year’s Eve.

The “lighting the streets’ program will see some main boulevards like Nguyen Hue, Le Loi, Dong Khoi, and Le Duan decorated with thousands of colorful lights from December 18 to January 5 for the western New Year and from February 2 to 21 for the Vietnamese New Year.

Music and light shows titled “A Moment to Welcome the New Year” will be held on Nguyen Hue Street on the night of December 31.

Enterprises located on streets where the festival will be held will decorate the front of their offices from February 11 to 16.