The Ban Flower Festival 2018 will take place in Dien Bien from March 17^th-19^th, with many new activities to attract visitors to the northern mountainous province, said the organising board.

An art performance at Ban Flower Festival 2017. (Source: VNA)

Aside from the opening ceremony held in the May 7 Square on March 17^th, the festival will feature a number of activities including art performances and exhibitions on local tourism products, among others.

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

There will also be a pack-bike competition where participants push pack-bikes carrying food from the Dien Bien Phu Victory Monument to the Hill D relic site. This activity aims to illustrate the Dien Bien Phu Operation of the Vietnamese people and army in 1954.

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.

Ban flower, scientifically known as Bauhinia Variegata, is typical to the northern mountainous region of Vietnam, and often blossoms in spring.

The annual Ban Flower Festival was first organised in 2014./.

VNF/VNA