Bac Ha White Plateau Festival to spotlight horse races

The Bac Ha White Plateau Festival 2019 was opened by the People’s Committee of Bac Ha district, in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai, on June 1, featuring various attracting cultural and sports activities of the local ethnic minorities.

An art performance at the opening ceremony. (Photo: VNA)
An art performance at the opening ceremony. (Photo: VNA)

Addressing the event, the Secretary of Bac Ha district’s Party Committee, Ly Binh Minh, said that the organisation of the festival aims to preserve and promote distinguished cultural values of ethnic minority groups in Bac Ha district as well as to boost tourism potentials of the locality.

After the opening ceremony, a street festival was held to recreate traditional rituals of ethnic minority groups in Bac Ha with the participation of more than 400 artisans from local communes in the district.

The street festival also saw the parade of 20 best jockeys from the Northwest region and vintage cars from the Volkswagen classic car club.

A rose and wine festival took place at the Hoang A Tuong Palce on the evening of June 1, offering visitors a chance to enjoy more than 50 national dishes and a music show by Bac Ha, Hanoi and international artists.

In particular, horse races will be the highlight of the festival which will take place at the Bac Ha district stadium on June 7-8 with the participation of local jockeys from Lao Cai province and the neighbouring provinces of Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang and Lai Chau.

The festival, which will run until June 9, will offer visitors with a wide range of entertainment activities such as a plum festival and cycling tours to plum gardens, tours exploring valleys of flowers and rose hills, a rose festival, tours visiting Bac Ha market, and others.