At the festival, visitors toured stalls displaying farm produce and OCOP products, sampled fresh fruit in the orchards, tried their hand at picking, cooked fruit-based dishes and took photos amid the colorful gardens. Through these activities, local residents tell the story of their agriculture through real experiences rather than conventional product displays.

Trung Tam ward held the 2026 “Four-Season Fruits - Experience and Connection” Festival.

Amid the cool green orchards of residential group 21 - dragon fruit, Hoang Kim star apple, plum, longan and pomelo - visitors not only admired the fruits of the farmers' labor but also joined the harvest and enjoyed the fruit right in the gardens.

Provincial and Trung Tam ward leaders attended the festival.

Pham Thu Hoai, from Phieng 1 hamlet in Van Chan commune, shared: “Going straight into the orchard, picking the fruit myself and tasting it on the spot is really enjoyable. The fruit is all fresh and delicious, the space is green and close to nature. It's a chance for me to learn more about local produce.”

Artistic fruit trays and fruit-carving demonstrations also drew large crowds. Farmers used to production work became “artisans” introducing their products, sharing growing experience and spreading their love for the land they are bound to.

The festival offers residents and visitors handed-on experiences at the fruit orchards.

According to Vu Thi Thanh, Vice Chairwoman of the Trung Tam Ward People's Committee, the 2026 “Four-Season Fruits – Experience and Connection” Festival honors the value of labor and pays tribute to the farmers and orchard owners who work the land day and night, while preserving and promoting fine traditional cultural values. It is also a meaningful opportunity to introduce and promote Trung Tam ward's signature products, potential and strengths on its path of development and integration.

The “Four-Season Fruits - Experience and Connection” Festival is organized as a practical community cultural activity. It not only creates a space for exchange and connection among residents, businesses and visitors, but also stimulates trade and develops community-based eco-tourism - aiming to build the image of a civilized, friendly and modern Trung Tam ward that still retains a strong traditional identity.

Vu Thi Thanh, Vice Chairwoman of the Trung Tam Ward People's Committee

Behind the festival lies a long-term story of tapping the locality's agricultural potential. Trung Tam ward now has more than 2,000 hectares of farmland, including 944 hectares of rice, 427 hectares of tea and over 382 hectares of fruit trees - an important resource for developing agricultural tourism products.

In particular, residential group 21 has developed a fruit-growing area of nearly 100 hectares with many specialty crops such as peach, plum, longan, dragon fruit, pomelo and Hoang Kim star apple. In recent years, many households have proactively converted their orchards to serve both production and tourism. Some models have begun to become attractive destinations for visitors from within and outside the province.

The orchard spaces at gardens in residential group 21, Trung Tam ward.

Even so, local agricultural tourism still has ample room to grow. Experiential activities remain largely spontaneous and season-dependent, without complete tours and routes capable of keeping visitors for longer. Some residents still have limited skills in tourism, product promotion and digital technology. Links among producers, cooperatives, travel firms and tourism sites in the area are also not yet truly tight.

For that reason, this festival is not merely a produce-promotion activity but a concrete step in building Trung Tam ward's “Four-Season Farm” brand. It is also the ward's second agriculture-linked event this year, following the “Peach Orchard in Spring” Festival held at the start of the Binh Ngo Lunar New Year.

Many residents and visitors attended the festival.

If the “Spring Peach Orchard” Festival was the first highlight, “Four-Season Fruits - Experience and Connection” is another key link in a chain of activities aimed at forming a year-round agricultural tourism ecosystem. Within it, residential group 21 has been chosen as a pilot area for the “Four-Season Experience Orchard” model, developing products tied to peach, plum, longan, dragon fruit, pomelo and Hoang Kim star apple, along with signature OCOP products.

Tran Ba Duc, an orchard owner taking part in the festival, said the event is a valuable chance for farmers to introduce their products, exchange and learn production experience, and seek opportunities to expand their consumer markets. For farmers, each fruit on display is not only a product of labor but also the fruit of diligence, perseverance and love for their homeland.

Stalls introduced a wide range of local farm products.

Tran Ba Duc shared: “Today's ‘Four-Season Fruits - Experience and Connection’ Festival is a great encouragement for fruit farmers like us. It also motivates us to keep striving harder, contributing to a local agriculture that is increasingly modern, efficient and sustainable.”

With its “Four-Season Farm” orientation, Trung Tam ward's agricultural thinking has clearly shifted. Instead of focusing on farming alone, the locality is developing an agricultural economy tied to tourism, culture and services. In other words, it sells not just produce but experiences, local values and the cultural story behind each product.

Agriculture tied to tourism, culture and services is the direction of the “Four-Season Farm” model in Trung Tam ward.

Under this vision, a year-round agriculture–culture–ecology tourism ecosystem will take shape. Spring offers peach and plum blossoms and Muong Lo culture; summer brings dragon fruit, watermelon and high-tech agriculture; autumn features sweet fruits and ripening rice; and winter offers tea tasting, resort stays and local cuisine.

Beyond the local scale, the “Four-Season Farm” model is also envisioned as a connecting point in the tourism chain of western Lao Cai, linking with renowned destinations such as Suoi Giang, Tu Le, Mu Cang Chai and the Muong Lo fields to create diverse, appealing tours and routes.

The “Four-Season Fruits - Experience and Connection” Festival provided residents and visitors with engaging experiences of agricultural production.

Through the fruit festival, Trung Tam ward sends a message about a new direction for local agriculture. When farmers take part in tourism, when each garden can become a destination, and when each farm product carries a cultural story, the value of produce rises. This is the path along which the authorities accompany farmers to create new value from agriculture - making local agriculture more sustainable, generating livelihoods and opening new space for the rural economy.

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