(VIETNAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - More than 180 varieties of fruit will be displayed at the Southern Fruit Festival to be held from June 1 to Aug 30 at Suoi Tien Theme Park in Ho Chi Minh City.

Around 1,000 tonnes of fruit will be brought to the park from orchards in the southern region and sold at 20 to 30 per cent below market prices.

The annual festival will feature Taste of Vietnamese Fruits from June 1 to 7, when guests at four- and five-star hotels would be offered delicious fresh fruit and juices when they check in, said Ms Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, deputy director of the city's Department of Tourism.

Tourists will be invited to join the festival, she said.

Supermarkets in the city would stock a large variety of fruit and offer discounts of 10 per cent and more, she added.

There will be many attractions and programmes at the festival, including a floating fruit market, a safe fruit contest, installation art using fruit, a fruit parade, a giant fruit and vegetable exhibition and an exhibition on rare aquatic and tropical creatures.

Children enjoy free admission on June 1.

The event, organised by the Department of Tourism together with the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development and Industry and Trade and the theme park, is expected to attract 1.6 million visitors, 50 per cent more than last year.

The 105ha park, which cost US$220 million (S$296 million) to build, features more than 150 cultural, historical, and spiritual monuments and attractions such as a roller coaster, crocodile kingdom, snow castle, water park, witch forest, magic castle and unicorn palace.