A garden of hydrangea flowers in Da Lat shines brightly under the scorching sun.
Photo by VnExpress/Hachi8. 

The Da Lat Flower Festival, a famous biennial event, will return this December with a range of cultural events. 

Lam Dong Province in the Central Highlands will host the festival from December 20 to 24 in the towns of Da Lat and Bao Loc.

The eighth edition of the cultural and tourism festival will feature 13 major events including the opening ceremony at Lam Vien Square on the night of December 20, a Vietnam-Korea culture and art exchange program on December 21, a fashion show of silk designs on December 22 and a seminar on the architectural heritage of Da Lat on December 23.

There will also be a tea and silk cultural week in Bao Loc, a town 130 kilometers from Da Lat once dubbed ‘the Kingdom of tea" by the French. This event aims to promote the tea and silk industries and introduce the long-standing tea industry of Bao Loc to domestic and foreign tourists, Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee said.

People work on a tea farm in Da Lat. Photo by Shutterstock/Huy Thoai.

Many popular tourist attractions and major streets around Da Lat will wear a floral look this December as millions of blooms of different varieties will be displayed from December 20 onwards, reaffirming its reknown as the ‘City of Flowers.’

The floral spaces will include the Le Dai Hanh flower street, the Ong Dao Bridge, the water fountain right at the entrance to Da Lat Market, and the Tran Hung Dao Park.

Situated in a plateau around 1,500 meters above sea level, Da Lat enjoys year-round cool weather which stands in contrast to Vietnam's tropical climate, making the highlands town ideal for growing flowers originating in temperate countries.

Da Lat is one of Vietnam’s biggest flower-growing regions, producing around three billion flowers every year, 10 percent of which are exported to foreign markets including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and mainland China.

Da Lat has also been dubbed "Little Paris," given its colonial standing as a summer hideout for French officials who built villas in the hills to escape the heat and humidity of the lowlands.

Da Lat smothered in clouds at dawn. Photo by VnExpress/Tran Quang Anh.

The mostly quiet and charming town, surrounded by pine trees, flowers and vegetables farms, is famous for its cool climate and has gained in popularity both as a romantic getaway for lovers and an oasis in a country that usually sweats all year round.