Vietnam’s Tra Vinh to Hold 100-Year Waxy Flesh Coconut Tree Fest

Tra  Vinh  Province, southern Vietnam will organize the  100-year Dua Sap (waxy flesh coconut) Tree Festival for the first time in late August to honor the values of its specialty, reports the tuoi tre news on April 18.  Dua sap, which literally means waxy flesh coconut in Vietnamese, has no water in it, and is full of white greasy jelly-like flesh when fully ripen.
The festival is expected to bring dua sap-based products to the global market, and introduce tourism products to local and international travelers, an official from the People’s Committee said.  The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will team up with the People’s Committee of Cau Ke District, which has the largest area of waxy flesh coconut cultivation among all districts in the province, to launch the fest.
Tra Vinh is home to 27,400 hectares of coconut trees, making it the second largest coconut tree-growing locality in the Mekong Delta region, after Ben Tre Province.  The province turns out some 444 million coconuts each year.  Waxy flesh coconut trees are farmed across 752 hectares, mainly in Cau Ke district.  
In Vietnam, dua sap is often used to make smoothies or mixed with sweetened condensed milk, shaved ice and peanuts for dessert. In the Philippines, the equivalent of dua sap is makapuno.