Ban Flower Festival 2018 attracts the participation of nearly 250 artists.
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The northern province of Dien Bien is dubbed as the land of bauhinia flowers. The annual Ban Flower Festival aims to honour and promote the natural beauty, cultural heritage and ethnic groups of the province.
It also helps affirm the tourism trademark of Dien Bien and promote ban flower, 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.
The festival is a wonderful occasion for young Thai men and women to meet each other, dating and chatting the whole day round. The Thai man put the prettiest Ban flowers on the hairs of the girl he loves. Overwhelmed with love, the Thai girl blushes and hides herself behind the green leaves of the springs.
However, unlike many people’s belief, Ban Flower Festival is not only an occasion for young people to show their love and happiness,but also a chance for Thai people to worship and show their gratitude to their ancestors.
This year’s festival includes a display of tourist products and the cultural practices of ethnic groups in Dien Bien, sporting events and folk games. The highlight of the event is a fashion show of the traditional costumes of Dien Bien’s ethnic groups, which is expected to attract the participation of many local artisans
There will also be a pack-bike competition in which the participants will push pack-bikes carrying food from the Dien Bien Phu Victory Monument to the Hill D relic site. This activity aims to recreate the operations of the Vietnamese people and army during the historic Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954.
Dien Bien welcomed 600,000 tourists, including 120,000 foreigners, in 2017, up 25% against 2016. Total revenue from tourism was VND960 billion (US$42.3 million), a 34% year-on-year increase, according to Dien Bien Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
