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Stalls displaying agricultural and local products in the festival (Photo: SGGP) |
The festival features a lot of cultural and sports activities, such as a trade, service, and travel mart with the participation of tourist businesses of HCMC and the Mekong Delta; a contest of a floating market where agricultural and local products are sold on boats; an exhibition of traditional cakes; Can Tho’s first Miss Ao Ba Ba (Vietnamese silk pajamas) beauty contest; performances of folk music, including Don Ca Tai Tu (southern amateur music) and more.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Can Tho City Nguyen Thuc Hien said that Cai Rang Floating Market was established due to the local people’s unique habit of traveling and doing business by boats on the waterway system in the region.
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Cai Rang Floating Market in Can Tho City (Photo: SGGP) |
The UK’s Rough Guide elected the Cai Rang Floating Market as one of the ten most impressive markets in the world. The tourism website Your Amazing Places named Cai Rang one of the top six floating markets in Asia. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism added Cai Rang Floating Market in Can Tho City to Vietnam’s list of national intangible cultural heritages in 2016, he added.
In the first six months this year, Can Tho City received nearly 4 million visitors, reaching 76.7 percent of the target for 2023, up 34 percent compared to the same period last year; and earned more than VND3,300 billion (US$140.4 million) from tourism, presenting a year-on-year increase of 59 percent.
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Contestants of the 2023 Miss Ao Ba Ba (Vietnamese silk pajamas) beauty contest (Photo: SGGP) |
The city’s leader emphasized the municipal culture, sports, and tourism sector has strived to preserve and promote the cultural values of the floating market, diversify tourist products, and ensure hygiene, security, safety, and quality of services to attract visitors to Can Tho floating market over the past years.
Cai Rang Floating Market is on the Hau River which is part of the Mekong River's basin. The market is a top tourism destination in Can Tho City and attracts a great number of local and international visitors every year. Cai Rang Floating Market usually opens around 4 or 5 am and lasts until 9 am. It is often filled with over 250 boats.
