Hanoi (VNA) - The Bac Ha Plateau Festival will take placefrom May 31 to June 9 in Bac Ha town, the northern mountainous province of LaoCai.
The highlight of the festival is a horse race, slated for June 7-8 at Bac Hatown’s stadium, featuring the competition of jockeys from Lao Cai and theneighbouring provinces of Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang, and Lai Chau.
The festival will also include a street festival, gathering more than 400artists from communes in Bac Ha district, a bicycle tour through plum-growingareas and flower valley, and a rose and wine fest at Hoang A Tuong Palace.
The festival aims to promote the unique cultural value and tourism potential ofBac Ha district to visitors from both at home and abroad, thus lifting Bac Haas an attractive tourism destination in Vietnam’s northern region.
Bac Ha town is famous for its rural market every Sunday, which is not only atrading place, but also a venue for cultural exchange among local people. Thehorse market is held as part of the Sunday market; the Bac Ha horse is praisedas one of the most beautiful types of horse in Vietnam.
The horse race is a unique traditional cultural practice of ethnic groupsliving on the "White Plateau". Organised annually since 2007, therace has been established as a most-expected sporting event of the locals andvisitors to the town. - VNA