What makes Ho Chi Minh City flower street for Tet 2026 so appealing?

Saigontourist Group on Tuesday morning officially unveiled the artist’s impression and key highlights of the 2026 Nguyen Hue Flower Street, a staple for Tet in the southern metropolis.

Twelve years after the Year of the Horse in 2014, the horse mascot makes its official return to Nguyen Hue Street.

The most notable innovation of the 2026 edition is the introduction of two distinct experiential versions – daytime and nighttime – within the same spatial layout.

The year 2026 is identified as a pivotal milestone after the administrative merging of Ho Chi Minh City with Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Binh Duong Provinces in July 2025 to form an international megacity.

The ambitious vision is woven throughout the entire design of the flower street.

From the outset, the entrance gate sets the tone, featuring the horse mascots soaring above stylized bamboo hedges shaped like rolling waves.

The imagery symbolizes a powerful, continuous surge of energy and aspiration.

Stretching along Nguyen Hue Boulevard, the flower street is conceived as a spring symphony in three movements: Spring of Integration, Resplendent Roots, and Steady Future.

The area surrounding the statue of late President Ho Chi Minh is once again adorned with southern yellow apricot blossoms, created by artisans from Binh Loi Apricot Village, blending time-honored tradition with the pulse of modern urban life.

Truong Duc Hung, general director of Saigontourist Group and head of the organizing board of the flower street, said that the 2026 Nguyen Hue Flower Street is not only an artistic display, but also a vivid symbol of Ho Chi Minh City’s aspiration for growth, resilience, and connection in a new era.

The integration of dual day-night experiences, alongside mapping and augmented reality technologies, tells the story of a youthful, dynamic megacity where history and modernity move forward together.

Two faces: day and night

Under the gentle sunlight of early spring, Nguyen Hue Flower Street appears as a vast floral panorama, featuring more than 100,000 flower baskets of diverse species.

The centerpiece ‘A Horse with Nine Crimson Manes’ draws inspiration from the Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh legend.

Standing 6.4 meters tall, the multi-layered mascot blends warm and cool tones with gradient paint effects, creating shifting visual impressions from different angles.

Notably, the ‘The Leisurely Steed,’ nearly seven meters high, is considered the largest mascot ever featured on Nguyen Hue Flower Street.

Eco-friendly geometric bamboo weaving forms a multi-layered ecological space, allowing visitors to step inside and experience a sense of calm and ease amid the city’s fast pace.

Another horse tableau ‘Ly Ngua O’ evokes southern cultural motifs through playful forms and contemporary blue-violet hues.

Its lacquered surface, combined with 3D holographic cloud-and-wave patterns, shimmers vividly in daylight.

Meanwhile, the ‘Brilliance of Memory’ zone features familiar folk images of the traditional Vietnamese Tet.

The concluding tableau ‘A Tapestry of Rivers and Mountains’ showcases nine eternal horses galloping forward.

Three solidly sculpted horses represent Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Binh Duong, symbolizing stability and unity.

The remaining six, crafted in layered forms, create dynamic visual motion along a corridor of light, an image of a city in constant progression.

As night falls, Nguyen Hue Flower Street undergoes a dramatic transformation.

A synchronized system of lighting and mapping technology turns the entire boulevard into a vibrant visual festival.

For the first time, mapping projections are cast directly onto mascots with complex structures.

At the entrance gate, the horse mascots narrate a sweeping story, from the legend of Saint Giong to the rise of modern technology and the birth of a regional megacity.

The combination of projected imagery and mechanical movement of the mascot’s head and legs brings unprecedented depth and vitality to the night-time experience.

Where tradition meets integration

Beyond technological spectacle, Nguyen Hue Flower Street remains firmly rooted in national pride.

Historical symbols such as Saint Giong’s iron horse and the warhorses of the Tay Son era embody Vietnamese strength, resilience, and identity.

Augmented reality experiences have also been upgraded through the TikTok platform, allowing visitors to witness horses galloping at the entrance gate without downloading additional applications.

These interactive moments create distinctive ‘check-in’ experiences, contributing to a spring celebration that is at once deeply traditional and boldly modern, right in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City.