Dien Bien (VNS/VNA) - The Ban Flower Festival 2019 – the popularspring flower festival of the north and northwestern region, will take placefrom March 6-18 in Dien Bien province.

The annual festival namedafter the most beautiful flower in the region, ban flower (scientifically known asBauhinia Variegata), will feature culturallife in the north and northwestern region, home to about 19 ethnic minorities,including Thai and Mong people.

Held by the provincial People’s Committee in coordination with the provincialDepartment of Culture, Sports and Tourism, it will go along with the sixth DienBien Cultural, Sports and Tourism Day to celebrate the 65th anniversary of theglorious Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954 — May 7, 2019), 110th anniversaryof the establishment of Dien Bien province (June 28, 1909 — June 28, 2019 ) and70 years of establishing the provincial Party Committee (October 10, 1949 —October 10, 2019).

Organisers said this year’s event will contain new programmes compared toprevious years with a series of art performances and exhibitions to take placeat the same time with sports and games activities.

The organising committee announced an opening ceremony will be held on the May7 Square and followed with a street parade so that guests and tourists whovisit the province on the day could join in the festive atmosphere with localpeople.

A book and photo exhibition featuring traditional culture of Dien Bien’s ethnicgroups is expected to go along with a series of art performances including folksinging and dancing.

A beauty contest, the Miss Hoa Ban, will also be held with the participation ofcandidates from eight northern and northwestern provinces of Dien Bien, Lai Chau,Son La, Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Phu Tho and Ha Giang to present theirtraditional costumes.

Organisers said they planned to invite Miss Luang Prabang from Laos to performat the event as a way to promote cultural and tourism exchanges and introducethe region to the country of Laos.

The first Ban Flower Festival was held in Dien Bien province in 2014 with theaim of preserving and promoting the cultural values of ethnic groups andintroducing the image of the province with ban trees as the symbol of thenorthwest region of Vietnam.

After five years, the festival has now become the uniquehistorical cultural and tourism brand of the land which saw the Dien BienPhu Victory over French invaders.-VNS/VNA