Vietnam’s coffee festival attracts visitors worldwide

Vietnam’s central highlands province of Dak Lak is bustling with various events during the third Buon Ma Thuot coffee festival 2011 which attracted thousands of visitors, coffee experts, importers and associations from Brazil, Columbia, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Vietnam.

Themed “A Tribute to Coffee”, the ceremony highlighted scores of performances rich in the central highlands culture, including the festival symphony of drums and traditional percussion instruments, a dancing pageant by ethnic performers in tribute to the basalt land, and a coffee flower procession.

As part of the festival, the popular 24th Charming Vietnam, one of the largest musical galas in Vietnam, is being held at the Trung Nguyen Coffee Village on Monday.

Visitors from all over the world also have the chance to drink coffee free of charge and join tours to visit coffee plantations and tourist sites throughout the province.

Some 10,000 exhibits for a coffee museum are on display and an artistic photo exhibition on Dak Lak coffee and tourism as well as the history of coffee plantations is being showcased at the provincial museum complex.

Dak Lak coffee industry is confirming its trademark on the domestic and foreign market. This festival, recognized as a biannual national festival, aims to promote and introduce Buon Ma Thuot and Vietnamese-made coffee products to the world market.

Local official said the event is an opportunity to help enhance the quality, production efficiency and trademark of Vietnamese coffee, thus contributing to the sustainable development of the local coffee industry and spurring the socio-economic growth in the locality and the country as a whole.

Statistics from the provincial People’s Committee showed that with more than 300,000 hectares of basalt land under coffee cultivation, Dak Lak produced 400,000 tons of coffee for domestic consumption and export in 2010.

Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee exporter after Brazil. In 2010, Vietnam exported more than one million tons of coffee worth 1.7 billion U.S. dollars. – Xinhua

Tags: Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival 2011