Speaking at the event, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee and head of the organising board Nguyen Dac Tai said that the festival was a cultural feast, offering a kaleidoscope of artistic, cultural and sporting activities and bringing domestic and international friends closer to the province.

During the festival, Nha Trang was buzzing with events like a street festival, salangane nest festival, cuisine festival, Ca Ong (Whale) festival, swimming contests, football tournaments, volleyball competitions and a bicycle parade, among others.

According to Nguyen Khac Ha, Director of the provincial Department of Culture and Sports, good weather, food safety, social order and environmental hygiene contributed to the event’s success.

The four-day event welcomed five international art troupes from Spain, France, the Republic of Korea, Australia and Russia, as well as troupes from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, central Thua Thien-Hue province and the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu, Mr. Ha added.

Some 120,000 foreign and domestic tourists flocked to the city during the festival.

On the occasion, Khanh Hoa province presented certificates of merit to 25 enterprises who provided more than 18 billion VND (793,600 USD) for the event.

The festival has been held biennially since 2003.

The province aims to welcome 5.5 million tourists this year, a year-on-year rise of 17 percent, including 1.7 million foreigners, according to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism.

In the first three months of this year, the province received more than 1.1 million tourists, up 26 percent from the same time last year, and earned 3.4 trillion VND (149.8 million USD) in tourism revenue. Foreign tourists arrivals reached 500,000, a surge of 85 percent year-on-year, mostly from China and Russia.

The locality is seeking a government recognition of Nha Trang as a marine eco-tourism urban area and northern Cam Ranh peninsula as a national tourism site.