Ethnic artisans are performing a traditional local dance at the northwest cuisine and cultural festival being held in the northern mountain province of Lào Cai’s Sa Pa Town. VNA/VNS Photo Quốc Khánh

HÀ NỘI A cultural, sports and tourism festival will take place in the northern mountain province of Sơn La this month, featuring the beauty of nature, life and people of ethnic groups in the northwestern region, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The event, the 14th of its type, will be held by the ministry in collaboration with Sơn La Province’s People’s Committee from August 18-20.

It is expected to draw nearly 1,000 artisans, actors, actresses and athletes, mostly from ethnic groups in Sơn La, Hòa Bình, Điện Biên, Lai Châu, Lào Cai, Yên Bái and Phú Thọ provinces.

The three-day festival is set to feature a string of activities including photo exhibitions depicting local culture and tourism, ethnic costume shows, sports and art performances. 

Among the main activities, an incense offering ceremony will be held at the Memorial House to commemorate heroic martyrs at Sơn La Prison.

Photo exhibitions on culture and tourism and ethnic groups in the northwestern region and tours across the Sơn La Province will also be a highlight.

The festival is an opportunity for artisans, actors, actress and athletes to meet and exchange experiences and promote the cultural values of local ethnic people and tourism in the region, according to the ministry.

It also aims to attract investment in tourism and boost the process of building key tourist areas in the provinces, the report said.

An opening ceremony will take place on August 18 evening at the provincial Conference Centre, which will be broadcast live by Vietnam Television.

Ethnic groups living in the northwestern region include Mường, Thái, Mông, Tày, Nùng, Dao and others.

Cuisine festival in Lào Cai

Tourists and artisants are joiining in nhảy sạp (dancing with bamboo poles)- a very popular traditional dance of ethnic group in the northwestern region of Việt Nam. VNA/VNS Photo Quốc Khánh

Meanwhile, a northwest cuisine and cultural space festival is taking place at the Sun World Fansipan Legend tourism site in the northern mountainous province of Lào Cai’s Sa Pa Town.
Visitors to the festival can enjoy the kaleidoscopic cultures of ethnic groups in the northwestern region with mountainous markets and traditional dances and singing.
They are treated to hundreds of excellent staples such as large pans of thắng cố (a dish made from horse meat and its organs), smoked buffalo meat, plump smoked sausage and various wines.
The life of local people is illustrated through the re-enactment of a traditional wedding of Dao people, as well as a string of folk games like stick pushing, bamboo dancing and walking on stilts, among others.
A grand bamboo dancing drawing 7,600 people stirred up the festival's atmosphere.
The festival, the third of its kind so far, opened on August 10 and will last until September 10.

It aims to preserve and honour traditional culture of the northwestern region. VNS