HÀ NỘI — The mountainous northern province of Tuyên Quang will host its first culture and tourism festival this weekend to boost the local economy.

Various activities will be held from October 12 through 14 at the communes of Côn Lôn, Hồng Thái and Đà Vị in Na Hang District.

According to Hoàng Anh Cương, chairman of Na Hang District People’s Committee, the locality’s lakes and rice fields have great potential to attract tourists who wish to experience local culture.

On Saturday, October 13, festivities will include making cốm (young rice), a countryside market, paragliding performance and local food fair.

The next day, the Tourism Festival of Na Hang Mountain Area will open along with Tuyên Quang Province Amateur Art Festival 2018.

There will be a photo exhibition featuring the landscapes of Hồng Thái by members of the province’s photography and literature association. Visitors can compete in picking local Shan Tuyết tea leaves, harvesting rice, embroidering, mountain bicycle racing and boat racing. An evening art show will close the festival.

In the past few days, seven villages in Côn Lôn Commune have been preparing for the market and the cốm-making contest.

Mông Văn Pó, vice chairman of the commune’s People’s Committee said locals were excited for the competition, a tradition usually reserved for after an unusually productive harvest. Each village will send six people to compete at the commune’s central stadium.

In Hồng Thái Commune, the centre of this year’s festival, dozens of local households will offer home-stay services to tourists. They have stockpiled extra poultry, fish and vegetables to prepare. The authorities have prohibited locals from using food from outside the area to ensure food safety.

Tourists have been preparing as well.

Lê Thanh Sơn, an amateur photographer from Hà Nội, planned a trip to the site for a group of ten people who all share his hobby.

"Everybody in the group is excited to tour the mountain and its terraced rice fields during the beautiful harvest season," he said. "We’ll have breathtaking photos." — VNS