In a late summer afternoon, I climbed up the slope in the western hilly area of Hue to visit an artist.

On the evening of June 23, the Hue Lotus Festival 2023, themed "Lotus Beautifies Hue," was officially opened at Tinh Tam Lake in Hue City. The event is directed by the Provincial People's Committee and organized by the Department of Tourism in collaboration with LAATA Vietnam Limited Liability Company, with the participation of Hue Vietnam Organic Company Limited, Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company, and several other businesses from both within and outside the province.

The expansion of lotus area also means that the area of polluted water surface is gradually narrowed. The lotus does not only grow at heritage sites but also exists in landscape lakes of temples, pagodas, shrines, showing off its fragrance in the remote countryside...

After two previous festivals in 2018 (themed "The Legend of a Flower") and 2022 (themed "Lotus - Essence of Heaven and Earth"), the Hue Lotus Festival 2023 with the theme "Lotus Beautifies Hue" will be held at Tinh Tam Lake for three days, from June 23rd to June 25th.

To be frank, that was the first time for a man in his sixties to see such a strange species of flower. The flower looked like the lotus, but its leaves were quite different.

I happened to come across a Facebook post of a friend currently living in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It read, “seeing seven blooming pink lotus flowers celebrating Vesak on Nhan Co Lake reminds me so much of my hometown - Hue, where Ngu Mountain and the Perfume River reside.”

On the morning of June 12, the Tourism Department informed that Hue Lotus Festival 2023 with the theme “Lotus colorizes Hue” will be held from June 23 to 26 at Tinh Tam Lake.

Of more than 350 artisans from the 69 well-known craft villages across the country participating in Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2023, artisan Phan Thi Thuan and her booth of the Phung Xa weaving village attracts many visitors because of her unique product: silk from lotus fibers.

On the morning of May 23 (5th of the 4th lunar month, of the year of the Cat), the Board of Administration - The Organizing Committee of the Vesak 2567 in Thua Thien Hue Province performed the rite of launching of seven lotus lanterns onto the middle of the Huong River to celebrate the major occasion.

The procession of Uncle’s Ho portrait photo and lotus flowers was held solemnly on the morning of May 17 at Duong No Village (Phu Duong Commune, Hue City) – the place associated with his childhood.