A festival of exploring the special national heritage - Mù Cang Chải terraced fields will take place from August 29 to October 18. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Giáp

YÊN BÁI — Festive activities will be held in Mù Cang Chải District in the northern province of Yên Bái to celebrate National Day and promote the beauty of the district's terraced rice fields from August 29 to October 18, according to Lương Thị Xuyến, vice chairwoman of the district’s People’s Committee.

“The activities aim to introduce, honour and promote the strengths and potential of cultural development, sports and the cultural heritage of ethnic groups in the district; in addition to raising awareness of preserving and promoting the values of historical relics associated with tourism which will contribute to provincial socio-economic development.

“Mù Cang Chải festival is also expected to create the link of sustainable tourism development between localities in Yên Bái Province and the northwestern region, forming the district’s own quality tourism product with criteria of new, unique, attractive and friendly,” Xuyến said.

The activities include the opening ceremony during which the Certificate for Special National Heritage will be granted to the district's terraced rice fields on September 26.

There are also musical shows on Saturday nights, a fair of local farm products, traditional games, a photo exhibition featuring the district's majestic natural beauty, and many other cultural activities

The new highlights of this year’s festival are the Discover Mù Cang Chải marathon with the participation of 100 athletes, a helicopter tour to experience the landscape from above, a camping festival and the district's four-season outdoor spectacle.

According to the organisation board, all measures to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic will be tightened during the festival. All participants will be required to wear masks, wash hands with disinfectants and follow social distancing.

Mù Cang Chải District is home to 500 hectares of rice terraces in La Pán Tẩn, Chế Cu Nha and Dế Xu Phình communes, cultivated by the Mông people for centuries. The local terraces are among the 2,500 hectares recognised as national heritage sites in 2007 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and a special national site by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on January 5.

The locality is about 1,000 metres above sea level, making it impossible to cultivate wet rice the same way as in deltas. Local residents grow rice in terraced fields to stop water flowing downhill.

Terraced fields in Mù Cang Chải are beautiful year-round. Visitors in March can see glittering ponds before locals transplant rice seedlings from April to May. After May, the hills are covered in green until the fields start to turn yellow with ripe rice in early September.

During the harvest in October, the golden rice fields stand out amidst green forests. — VNS