The second southern folk cake festival will open on February 2 at theHoa Su Restaurant in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho, providing acultural and gastronomic feast to welcome Tet (Lunar New Year).

The three-day festival is organised by the Ninh Kieu districtPeople's Committee and the Investment, Trade & Tourism PromotionCentre in collaboration with the Department of Culture, Sports andTourism, the Can Tho Tourism Joint Stock Company and other agencies.

The festival will celebrate the long tradition of southernfolk cakes that dates back thousands of years. The most famous of theseinclude Banh tet (cylindrical glutinous rice cake filled with green beanpaste and pork fat), Banh u (small pyramidal glutinous rice cake) andBanh tet la cam (violet cylindrical glutinous rice cake), the last onebeing a Can Tho specialty.

Other traditional cakes eatendaily as well as on major holidays include Banh xeo (pancake), Banh bodua (coconut-flavoured sponge cake).

The festival will be avery good opportunity for businesses and makers of traditional foods topromote their brands, organisers said.

Around 20 firms,traditional cake makers in the city and the Mekong Delta will show off70 different kinds of cakes prepared by skilled chefs.

Through the local specialties, the event also aims at promoting agricultural products of the Mekong Delta provinces.

Apart from sampling the different cakes, visitors can join in somefolk games and contests such as wrapping the cylindrical glutinous ricecake, pouring pancakes and trimming vegetables.

The cake fest will also have an exhibition area, photo galleries, a performance area, arts and crafts.

The city hopes to make the festival an annual cultural and tourismpromotion event where residents and visitors can have fun and entertainthemselves while welcoming spring and enjoying the traditional cultureof the South.-VNA