Saigonese people join contest to worship Hung Kings

Twenty four teams representing the 24 districts of HCMC have registered to join the Banh Tet (traditional sticky rice cake) making contest to select the best cakes to worship the Hung Kings on February 12, or December 29 of the lunar calendar.
According to the Tet 2010 Festival organizing committee, the deadline for registration is February 8. All 24 districts of the city have teams in the contest, one more than last year.
The final round to select winners for the traditional Banh Tet and Creative Banh Tet categories will take place at the Dam Sen Park in District 11 on February 10. The organizing committee will also give banh tet to children during the ceremony.
Total prize money will be VND70.5 million, including VND4 million for the best team and VND12 million for that team’s district.
A jury will select the best cakes based on quality (five points), form (2.5 points), decorativeness (1.5 points) and introduction of the cake (one point).
Ceremonies to offer Banh Tet to worship the Hung Kings will take place in the Hung Kings Temple in District 9, Ho Chi Minh Museum in District 4 and Ton Duc Thang Museum in District 1 on February 12.
The organizers will combine with other departments to distribute around 10,000 banh tet to poor people to celebrate Lunar New Year 2010.
The yearly Banh Tet making contest is part of six main festivities in the downtown area to welcome Tet 2010. Other festivities include Nguyen Hue Flower Street, fireworks displays, a music program and decorations along other streets.
The city government has entrusted Saigontourist Holding Company to organize all of the activities.