A view from above of Sa Pa Town's rice fields in Lào Cai Province which will host many activities to celebrate upcoming national holidays. — VNA/VNS Photo

LÀO CAI — The northern mountainous province of Lào Cai will host a range of tourism festivals and dance and music performances to celebrate the 77th August Revolution (August 19, 1945) and National Day (September 2, 1945) holidays.

The highlight event is the "Tây Bắc Quintessence" festival to be held on August 26-28 in Lào Cai City and Sa Pa, about 30km from the city centre.

The festival is one of the activities to celebrate the 115th anniversary of the re-establishment of Lào Cai Province (July 12, 1907 - 2022) and 30th anniversary of re-establishment of the provincial town (now Lào Cai) (September 1, 1992 - 2022) and a warm up for the 120th anniversary of Sa Pa Tourism in 2023.

Tây Bắc Quintessence is a tourism event co-organised by eight provinces (Phú Thọ, Điện Biên, Hà Giang, Hòa Bình, Lai Châu, Lào Cai, Sơn La, and Yên Bái) in the Northwestern region, and HCM City with a view to highlight and publicise the cultural identities and beautiful images of local nationalities.

The organisers hope to lure the attention of Vietnamese and foreign tourists and strongly push the development of tourism in the Northwest region.

"This is the second year of the festival and the event will include typical cultural and tourism activities to introduce Lào Cai with its revolutionary history, majestic landscapes and unique culture," said Hà Văn Thắng, Lào Cai's Tourism Administration director.

The festival's key performance entitled "Kết Nối Khát Vọng Xanh" (Connecting Green Aspiration) will begin at 8pm on August 27 at the city's Central Square.

More than 300 artists will take part in the elaborately choreographed event which will vividly introduce unique local tourist attractions of the Northwest midland and mountainous provinces.

A new tourism product “Sa Pa Lặng Lẽ Yêu” -- “The Ethnic Mông Show” will be introduced through the festival at Sa Pa's Tourism Information and Promotion Centre at 2 Fansipan Street.

It is the first time the show will open for tourists. Local Mông residents and artisans will perform their daily activities at the centre. Tourists will enjoy themselves in the cultural space of the people. They will feel the local life, the mystery of spiritual life, forging and casting techniques, silver carving, handloom weaving, home-brew wine making and cuisines among others.

Visitors will also understand Mông people's ways of behaviour in the family and community, romantic relationships, traditional music instruments and folk love songs.

Also at the Promotion Centre, a programme to introduce typical destinations of eight Northwest provinces and HCM City will be held on August 26-28.

Each localities will have their own space to show off their information, pictures and products about their tourism potential, especially specialties such as fruits and food.

Organisers said tourists will have a chance to discover provinces that they have never visited and 'check-in' Lào Cai's typical and beautiful sites such as the century-old Hoàng A Tưởng Palace, Bay Waterfalls and the ancient stone carving site.

The Autumn Festival 2022 entitled “Y Tý - Sức Hút Đại Ngàn” (Y Tý - The Great Attraction) will be open on August 28.

Hà Nhì ethnic minority people perform their Khu Già Già's rituals. At the biggest festival of the year, local residents pray for a good harvest. — Photo baolaocai.vn

It is an event by the Bát Xát District People's Committee held in Y Tý Commune, an area about 2,000m above the sea level.

Organisers will guide tourists to experience a traditional Khu Già Già Festival (the biggest festival of the year where locals pray for a good harvest) of the Hà Nhì ethnic minority people in Choản Thèn Village; join a marathon tournament "Upstream the Lũng Pô" and the Lảo Thẩn Mount Climbing; take part in the Sport and Culture Day of local residents; witness a photo exhibition about Bát Xát tourism beauty and enjoy the traditional cakes festival. — VNS