Muong Lo festival opens with Xoe Thai dance

The opening ceremony was attended by Pham Thi Thanh Tra, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Deputy Prime Minister; Duong Quoc Huy, Member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Lao Cai provincial Party Committee; representatives of central ministries and agencies; local officials; and a large number of residents and visitors.

Pham Thi Thanh Tra, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Deputy Prime Minister attends the event.

Before the opening ceremony, a street parade featuring 400 performers took place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. along Dien Bien Street, Nguyen Quang Bich Street and the route to Nghia Lo ward stadium.

The performers showcased the distinctive cultural features of ethnic communities in Muong Lo to visitors from near and far.

At 7:30 p.m., the festival officially opened with the theme “Xoe Thai Dance - A Circle of Love.”

In his opening remarks, Chairman of the Lao Cai provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Tuan Anh said this year's festival coincides with the fifth anniversary of xoe Thai dance being inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The event also features a series of activities connecting Vietnamese Culture Day with the Great National Unity Festival in the province.

The highlight of the opening ceremony was the large-scale outdoor artistic program “Xoe Thai Dance – A Circle of Love,” staged on a nearly 3,000-square-meter platform and combining traditional art with music, lighting, 3D mapping projection technology and modern performing arts.

The program was divided into three parts, taking audiences on a journey from work and production to romantic love, wedding customs and the joy of reunion in the communal Xoe circles.

Images of rice fields, Thai women by streams, the Han Khuong courtship setting, betrothal customs, welcoming the bride and traditional village weddings vividly portrayed the cultural beauty, faithful love and values preserved by the Thai community through generations.

A highlight of the evening was the mass Xoe performance involving 2,026 Thai artisans and amateur performers. The dancers formed patterns inspired by distinctive cultural motifs, including Cut Pieu, Ta Leo, Mak Cuom and Hoa Ban, while performing traditional Xoe dances to create a vibrant cultural spectacle.

Each Xoe circle represents more than a dance. It symbolizes sharing, hospitality and the cultural identity of the Thai people in particular and ethnic communities in the Northwest in general.

The festival, which runs from October 15 to 21, also features the 2026 Northwest Tourism Fair, a space showcasing and connecting products under the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) program, the Northwest Cultural Colors exhibition and a photo exhibition on tourism in the region and Lao Cai.

Localities across the province are also holding activities in conjunction with the festival, including the 2026 Lao Cai Shan Tuyet Tea Festival, the “Flying over the Golden Season” paragliding event in Tu Le commune, community-based tourism experiences, traditional sports, folk festivals, agricultural tours and other cultural activities.

The 2026 Muong Lo Culture and Tourism Festival contributes to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of ethnic communities while further affirming Muong Lo as a distinctive cultural destination in the Northwest and enhancing the appeal of Lao Cai tourism on Viet Nam’s tourism map.

Translated by Song Anh