Đắk Lắk Durian Festival Closes With Unveiling of H’Riêng Mascot

The Đắk Lắk Durian Festival now has a mascot to carry its identity into future editions. Organizers unveiled H’Riêng at the closing ceremony on Sept. 2 in Tuy Hòa.

The mascot wears brocade clothing and has a durian for a head, combining the fruit that defines the festival with the cultural imagery of Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Its name won a public vote among three options, H’Riêng, H’Ban and H’Mây. “H” evokes a common female name form among the Êđê people, while “Riêng” comes directly from sầu riêng, the Vietnamese word for durian.

Nguyễn Thị Hồng, a resident of Tuy Hòa, said the mascot was “very cute” and immediately conveyed both durian and Central Highlands culture through its clothing. She said a symbol used across the festival’s editions could help residents and visitors remember the event.

The festival ran from Aug. 15 to Sept. 2 under the theme “Đắk Lắk Durian: Connecting and Reaching Further,” with 18 main activities. Organizers also presented souvenir items featuring H’Riêng, including keychains and T-shirts, and honored groups and individuals who helped stage the event.

Tourism officials estimated that the province received about 750,000 visitors, including 16,000 from abroad, during the festival, while tourism services earned more than 1.295 trillion dong. An online campaign involving eight communes put nearly 262 tonnes of durian into livestream sales and generated more than 20.4 billion dong. An auction in Krông Pắc featured a nearly 350-tonne orchard lot valued at about 23.8 billion dong. Across the festival, durian sales were estimated at about 600 tonnes and 44 billion dong in revenue.

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I find the mascot very cute. You can immediately recognize both the image of durian and the culture of the Central Highlands through its brocade clothing. Having a symbol associated with the festival across its editions will help residents and visitors remember it more.