A Summer Festival opens in the mountainous resort town of Sa Pa in the northern province of Lao Cai from April 29 till the end of June, featuring various activities to commemorate the Lao Cai – Northwest National Tourism Year 2017.
On the opening day, there was a music show of the province’s ethnic arts troupe, along with a street festival at Mat Ngoc lake and xoe dance performance of Tay and Xa Pho ethnic people, among others.
On April 30, visitors can choose to attend the festival on cloud at Ham Rong Mountain or to try hands at cultivation practice of local people and pick herbal plants with Red Dao people at Ta Phin tourism site. Meanwhile, the Quan site in Sa Pa hosts the re-enactment of the traditional wedding of the Red Dao ethnic group.
Besides, a thematic photo display on Sa Pa was opened on April 28 and lasts until May 3, introducing 60 award-winning works of Sa Pa photography club’s members.
Several sport activities such as tennis and volleyball tourneys will also take place during the summer festival.
According to statistics of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Lao Cai welcomed more than 1.1 million tourists in the first quarter of 2017, including nearly 230,000 foreigners, a year-on-year rise of 56.6 percent.
It is striving to welcome more than 6 million tourists, and become a key tourism centre of the north western region by 2020, with Sa Pa becoming a national tourism site.
The province hopes to welcome at least 3.1 million tourists in the National Tourism Year 2017.