Floating market festival to kick off in Mekong Delta hub

The sixth Cai Rang floating market culture and tourism festival will take place from July 8 to 10 in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

The festival, themed "Preservation and Development of Cai Rang Floating Market Culture", aims to celebrate Vietnam Tourism Day on July 9 while contributing to the preservation of Cai Rang as a national intangible cultural heritage.

The Cai Rang floating market, one of Mekong Delta's top tourist attractions, features the region's culture, scenic landscape and daily life.

During the three-day festival, entertaining activities will include displays of flower boats, a boat parade on the river, an exhibition of local delicacies and agricultural products, a boat race, a Taekwondo competition, and a waste pickup program.

Art performances will also be staged at the event, including don ca tai tu (southern folk music and songs) performances and a singing contest.

The festival opening ceremony will start at 8 a.m. on July 8 and the closing at 7 p.m. on July 10.

Cai Rang Floating Market Culture was officially recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2016.

Together with Cai Be in Tien Giang province and Phung Hiep in Hau Giang province, Cai Rang is one of the three biggest floating markets in the delta.

According to U.K. travel publication Rough Guides, the most popular trip in Mekong Delta is "stopping off at a few rural villages along the way and joining the throng at Cai Rang’s floating market in the morning."

The magazine in 2021 also listed Cai Rang among ten most impressive markets in the world and top five most interesting markets in Asia.

"Visiting Cai Rang floating market is a must-do when coming to the Mekong Delta," Rough Guides wrote. "A huge range of products are on sale from a fleet of brightly colored boats. Most traders advertise their wares from the top of a long pole attached to their vessel."

TripAdvisor commented: "Touring a floating market in Mekong Delta is a box that many travelers to Saigon wish to check, and none are bigger, or more popular than Can Tho's Cai Rang floating market."

"You’ll pass vibrantly painted boats anchored along the shore, merchant vessels carrying loads down the river and houses built on stilts over the water. Once you finally reach the market, it’s an impressive site," the world's largest travel platform wrote.

Serving as Mekong Delta's hub, Can Tho is home to a string of must-see destinations like the French-Chinese-Vietnam style Binh Thuy ancient house in Binh Thuy district, the 120-year-old Ong Pagoda and a symbol of Can Tho city Ninh Kieu Wharf, both in Ninh Kieu district.