Autumn Fair 2025: Bringing the quintessence of craft villages far and wide

Photo caption — Booths displaying and promoting typical and unique products of localities are the areas that attract the most people and tourists. Illustrative photo: Khanh Hoa/VNA

Traditional products in the integration trend

In a space filled with the scent of specialties and the sophistication of handicraft products, the soft, traditional linen products of Nam Cao Linen Weaving Cooperative (Le Loi commune) are one of the highlights of Hung Yen province, attracting the attention of many visitors. The presence of Nam Cao linen products has shown the effort to "revive" the nearly 400-year-old craft village in the flow of modern society.

Deputy Director of Nam Cao Linen Weaving Cooperative Nguyen Thi Ha said that in the past, Nam Cao linen weaving village was famous throughout the country for its sophisticated handmade products. At its peak, the village's products were popular and exported to many countries around the world with millions of meters of fabric each year. However, from the 90s to around 2010, Nam Cao village was at risk of disappearing when it could not compete with industrial textile products. At that time, the once famous weaving village had only a few households continuing the profession.

In 2013, Nam Cao Linen Weaving Cooperative was established, marking an important turning point for the craft village. With the formation of a value chain from raw material areas, production to consumption and export, especially diversifying product introduction channels and customer access, after more than 10 years of efforts, the cooperative now has over 200 members, expanding domestic and international markets. In 2023, Nam Cao linen weaving was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage, not only having a profound meaning in preserving and maintaining cultural values but also creating momentum for traditional handicraft products to develop steadily in the market.

In particular, these days, Nam Cao linen silk products are not only known in the domestic "playground" with the Autumn Fair held at the Vietnam Exhibition Center, but also spread the meaning and beauty of traditional linen silk at the fashion show in Nicaragua.

The cooperative representative shared that after the success of the National Achievement Exhibition in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution (1945 - 2025) and the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (September 2, 1945 - September 2, 2025), participating in the Autumn Fair in 2025, Nam Cao linen silk craft village brought typical products, characteristic of the beauty of linen silk such as silk ao dai, handmade scarves, silk bracelets. Although the fair has only officially opened for 1 day, Nam Cao linen silk has attracted many customers to visit and shop. This is the driving force for the cooperative to continue to develop, innovate products, and meet market demand from domestic to international.

The expected "playground" of businesses

Along with Nam Cao silk, many other OCOP products, which are specialties of Hung Yen, are also present at this fair such as longan, lotus-wrapped longan, dried longan, rice, and fish cake...

Mr. Tran Van Dong, representative of Thien Duc Confectionery Production Company (Dong Hung Commune, Hung Yen) hopes that the Autumn Fair is a "golden" opportunity for businesses, especially those in the field of developing local specialties, to promote and spread the province's traditional "specialties", while opening the door to multi-dimensional connections with large domestic and international markets. Currently, with just the banh cay product, the company produces 15 tons per month, selling to 34 provinces and cities across the country. In addition to innovating designs and improving product quality, from 2023 to now, the company has built 4 4-star OCOP products including banh cay, peanut candy, dou candy and sesame candy. Participating in the fair is an opportunity for the banh cay product to "spread its fragrance" in the autumn weather of Hanoi - helping bakers feel more proud of their ancestors' profession.

According to local history, the creator of this cake was Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tan (Nguyen Xa village, Tien Hung prefecture, Son Nam Ha town, namely Nguyen Xa commune, Dong Hung district, Thai Binh, now Dong Hung commune, Hung Yen province). She had many contributions to the Le dynasty, held the position of Cung Trung giao tap (teaching the king's children and princess's grandchildren), Phu nhan song giao. In the palace, she invented a cake called five-flavor cake. After presenting it to the king, King Hien Tong praised the cake for its deliciousness and named it "Banh Cay". Since then, Banh Cay has been associated with the hometown of the founder of the profession - Nguyen Thi Tan, and has been passed down and developed in the village and outside the commune to this day.

The unique feature of Nguyen village’s Cay cake is the combination of ingredients from daily crops such as gac fruit, gardenia fruit or leaves, peanuts, sesame, ginger, carrots and tangerine peel. All of these blend together to create a soft, fragrant cake with its own unique flavor.

According to the Center for Industrial Promotion and Industrial Development Consulting (Hung Yen Department of Industry and Trade), to prepare for the province's booth at the first Autumn Fair, the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Industry and Trade have issued a specific plan. The booth design ensures aesthetics and modernity while still retaining the local cultural imprint, while applying video projection technology to introduce the production process, quality and value of the products.

The provincial exhibition area attracted more than 20 enterprises and production establishments to participate, displayed in groups such as: handicrafts, local specialties, typical industrial products and OCOP products. With the message "Hung Yen integrates and develops", the Fair is an opportunity for the locality to introduce and promote its potentials and strengths, as well as spread the spirit of innovation and creativity, towards sustainable development, especially after the administrative unit arrangement with a larger development space.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/hoi-cho-mua-thu-nam-2025-dua-tinh-hoa-lang-nghe-vuon-xa-20251028083650646.htm