« Vespa raffle drawing, May 3 | Main | Piaggio BV 500 Test Drive »
May 2, 2007
Vintage Vespa scooters parade Vietnam’s central highlands
The “Da Lat, the Destination for Vespa Lovers” festival kicked off in Da Lat on Sunday with a procession of nearly 400 vintage scooters from 20 Vespa clubs nationwide.
The festival, featuring a nighttime party with music, dancing, wine, and French food, will run until Tuesday.
After the opening ceremony, the scooters joined the the Ngau hung Vespa (Vespa’s Inspiration) procession around the Xuan Huong Lake in the heart of the famous resort city before parking along the banks for visitors to view and take photographs.
Most of the participating scooters were manufactured by Italian famous firm Piaggio before 1975. The event is showcasing four Vespa models: Acma, Standard, Super and Sprin.
Four of the participating Vespas were crowned “Queen Vespas.” Their owners come from Ho Chi Minh city, Can Tho city, Nha Trang and Da Lat.
The organizers also awarded the Duyen dang Viet Nam (Charming Vietnam) prizes to the eight most beautifully refurbished scooters.
Vespas first appeared in Dalat in the 1950s and since have been a part of the city’s culture ever since.
John Davis, a tourist from the United States, said he knew the festival through a friend and decided to travel to Da Lat to join the event.
“Unlike the Vespa festival in the US, many Vespas in Vietnam have their original components and engines,” he said. “Many Vietnamese consider collecting Vespas their hobby while many American Vespa owners like to change the original engines to make their scooters faster.”
The scooters are to be decorated with flowers for the Lang man Vespa (Romantic Vespa) parade Monday afternoon.
Posted by Frank at May 2, 2007 8:52 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.scooteringusa.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/297