According to the organiser, as many as 472 coffee shops in Dak Lak offered free coffee to visitors, including 352 in Buon Ma Thuot City.
A book street was open at the festival to entertain book lovers. A visitor, Nguyen Hoa, said that she arrived at the street early in the morning and really enjoyed the speciality coffee.
Le Thi Nga, a staff member at the OCop Coffee Shop said they welcomed a large number of customers on the first day of the festival. "Visitors to our shop were offered free organic coffee," she said. "We also showed them the production process as well as how organic coffee is produced."
Hoa Sua Coffee shop, which lies some 55 kilometres from Buon Ma Thuot City, also offered free coffee to customers during the festival.
Another cafe in Lak District also followed suit.
Many visitors flocked to Phan Dinh Giot Street which is the centre of the festival to sightsee and celebrate the festival.
General director of the Simexco Dak Lak Company, Le Duc Huy, said that the eighth Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival was a good chance for local coffee enterprises to introduce their products.
"By 6 pm, our stall had offered over 8 thousand free coffee cups," Huy said. "I'm very glad to receive good comments from visitors for our speciality coffee and services," Huy said.
The Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival 2023, which will open from March 10-14, features 400 stalls from 150 enterprises, including eight from abroad. They offered various coffee products and coffee processing machines along with other farm produce such as pepper and cashew nuts.
The event will see 18 official activities and is expected to attract 50,000 visitors.