Dien Bien (VNA) – The Ban Flower Festival 2018 kicked off in thenorthern mountainous province of Dien Bien on March 17, attracting thousands ofpeople in the province and surrounding localities.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Nguyen Van Binh Chairman of the CommunistParty Central Committee’s Economic Commission and head of the SteeringCommittee for Northwestern Region, said the annual festival bolsters thecultural development in the region, thus helping the province become a keydestination on the northwestern tourism route.

The festival aims to honour and preserve traditional cultural values of ethnicgroups and strengthen national unity, as well as promote local landscapes andpeople to international friends, he added.

Asidefrom the opening ceremony held in the May 7 Square, the festival will feature anumber of activities including art performances and exhibitions on localtourism products, among others.

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

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

The annual Ban Flower Festival helps affirm the tourism trademark ofDien 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 northwestregion in general. The flower often blossoms in March-April. - VNA