Speaking at the opening ceremony, Nguyen Van Binh Chairman of the Communist Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission and head of the Steering Committee for Northwestern Region, said the annual festival bolsters the cultural development in the region, thus helping the province become a key destination on the northwestern tourism route.

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An art performance at the opening ceremony of the Ban Flower Festival 2018

The festival aims to honor and preserve traditional cultural values of ethnic groups and strengthen national unity, as well as promote local landscapes and people to international friends, he added.

Aside from the opening ceremony held in the May 7 Square, the festival will feature a number of activities including art performances and exhibitions on local tourism products, among others.

The highlight of this year will be a fashion show on traditional costumes of Dien Bien’s ethnic groups, which is expected to draw the participation of many local artisans, in a bid to introduce traditional culture of ethnic groups in Vietnam and Dien Bien in particular.

There will also be a pack-bike competition where participants push pack-bikes carrying food from the Dien Bien Phu Victory Monument to the Hill D relic site. This activity aims to re-enact Dien Bien Phu Operation of the Vietnamese people and army in 1954.

The annual Ban Flower Festival helps affirm the tourism trademark of Dien Bien and promote ban flower (scientifically known as Bauhinia Variegata), which has become a symbol of the land and people of Dien Bien and the northwest region in general. The flower often blossoms in March-April.

Source: VNA