The Mekong Delta’s Tien Giang Province will organize the first national fruit festival in My Tho City on April 19-24 in an effort to promote the province’s rich source of fruits as well as prop up its tourism industry, said Chairman of provincial People’s Committee Tran The Ngoc.

The event, themed Vietnam’s Fruit in the Process of Integration, will display fruits coming from all over the country and seek for solutions to promote them domestically and internationally.

It is also an opportunity to promote its capability in supplying fruits to foreign markets as well as providing a chance to honor farmers, scientists and businesses who have contributed to elevating the position of Vietnamese fruit in the world.

During the festival, there will also be three seminars on the domestic fruit market, and solutions for linking up farmers, scientists, state managers, and businesses to raise the added values of domestic fruit.

The cost of organizing is estimated at some VND15 billion.

The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is planning to host more tours to fruit orchards, Cai Be floating market, and other floating festivities to collect more funding for the festive time.

The first event of its kind in Vietnam, organized every five years, will see new national records including a 400m dragon painting drawn by 50 graffiti artists and a mosaic map of Vietnam made from local fruits.

The province, which is the nation’s leading fruit producer with annual yield of 950,000 tons, is growing 31 kinds of fruits including well-known ones such as Hoa Loc mango, Long Co Co grapefruit, An Phuoc plum, Lo Ren Vinh Kim star apple, Ngu Hiep durian, Cho Gao dragon fruit, and Tan Lap pineapple.