HCMC authorities have announced a seven-day celebration of the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival beginning on January 31.
 
The celebration will have six programmes including the usual decoration of Nguyen Hue Street with flowers and ornamental trees, with this year's theme being New Heights. The aim is to highlight the city's efforts to attain higher economic and social achievements.

The Nguyen Hue Flower Road will open to the public from 7pm, January 31 until 10pm February 6, 2011. The city's 24 districts will organise the banh tet (cylindric glutinous rice cake) Festival. Banh Tet offerings will be made at the Temple for Hung Kings, the Ho Chi Minh Museum and the Ton Duc Thang Museum.

The streets of Nguyen Hue, Le Loi, Dong Khoi, Le Duan and Chi Lang Park will be also decorated with colour lamps from December 17 to January 4, 2011 to celebrate the Christmas and New Year season.

Firework shows will take place at seven sites during the 15 first minutes of the New Year.

The city authority has assigned Saigontourist Holdings Co again to organise the main festivities in downtown HCMC during the forthcoming Tet festival that falls in the first week of February.