The Bà Đen (Black Lady) Mountain Spring Festival on January 28 was held in Tây Ninh Province. Photo courtesy of dulich.tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY  The Bà Đen (Black Lady) Mountain Spring Festival kicked off at the Bà Đen Mountain Historical, Cultural and Tourism Relic Site in Tây Ninh Province on January 28.

“Hương Sắc Tây Ninh” (The Scent and Beauty of Tây Ninh) is the theme of this year’s festival.

Attending the opening ceremony were Võ Văn Phuông, member of the Party Central Committee and standing deputy head of its Popularisation and Education Commission Department; Trần Lưu Quang, member of the Party Central Committee and standing deputy secretary of HCM City Party Committee; and Phạm Viết Thanh, member of the Party Central Committee and secretary of Tây Ninh Party Committee; and other authorities and hundreds of local residents.

Performances from local and HCM City artists, along with a fireworks display, were seen at for the opening ceremony.

The Bà Đen Mountain Spring Festival is an annual event, taking place between the 4th and the 16th of the first lunar month. During the festival, visitors enjoy activities including movie screenings, art performances, and folk games.

Earlier, at the Bà Đen Mountain Historical, Cultural and Tourism Relic Site, the Tây Ninh People’s Committee and Sun Group held an inauguration ceremony for a modern cable car system.

Covering an area of 10,959m2, the Bà Đen Cable Car Station has a modern design and unique features, which have been recognised by the Guinness World Records Organisation as the “World’s Largest Cable Car Station”.

This is the first part of the Sun World Bà Đen Mountain Resort Complex project that has been put in use, with the total investment of over VNĐ2,000 billion (US$86,000) for the first phase.

Bà Đen is the highest mountain in the southeast, rising to a height of 986 metres.

There are two cable car systems on the mountain. Vân Sơn cable car carries visitors to the top of Bà Đen Mountain and has 113 cabins, while Chùa Hang cable car goes up to Bà Đen Pagoda and has 78 cabins.

Bà Đen Mountain received nearly one million pilgrims and tourists on the occasion of this Lunar New Year, up 50 per cent year on year, according to the province's People’s Committee. VNS