Visitors try grilled lobsters at a food stall in the festival. — VNA/VNS Photo

KHÁNH HÒA — The Cam Ranh Lobster Festival was official opened in Cam Ranh City in the south-central province of Khánh Hòa late last week, attracting thousands of visitors.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Chairman of the Cam Rank People’s Committee Ngô Hữu Hiển said that the festival, the first of its kind to be held in the city which is dubbed “a kingdom of lobsters” aims to introduce and promote the unique cultural values of the locality, while promoting its economic and tourism potential.

Through the festival, the city hopes to attract investment to realise the goal of developing Cam Ranh into a "logistics tourism city", he said.

Moreover, the festival is not only an opportunity for the city to promote its famous lobster product, but also helps to increase the commercial value of lobster, promote domestic consumption and export.

Within the framework of the festival, many exciting activities were held such as a culinary performance contest and setting a Vietnamese record with “120 dishes made from Cam Ranh lobster”, a boat racing contest, a basket shaking contest, a flower car parade, and performances of folk art and musical instruments by the Raglai ethnic group.

The festival also features more than 200 food stalls and souvenir shops with local handicraft products.

Activities within the festival’s framework are taking place from August 3-11.

Home to renowned Cam Ranh Bay and Bình Ba Island, Cam Ranh is considered in the same tourism league as San Francisco Bay in the US, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

The city also boasts nearly 80,000 lobster faming cages, and provides the market with 2,600-3,000 tonnes every year.