The opening ceremony of the first Thai ethnic cultural festival was held in the northern province of Lai Chau on December 27, featuring the ethnic group’s traditional identities. It was attended by Le Hong Anh, a Politburo member and standing member of Party Central Committee's Secretariat, Ha Thi Khiet, Party Central Committee Secretary and head of the Party Commission for Mass Mobilization, and leaders of localities. This is the first time the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism coordinated with Lai Chau province to organize the festival themed “Preserving and promoting the Thai ethnic group’s cultural identity in Vietnam’s development and international integration”. The event brings together local people and those from the provinces of Dien Bien, Hoa Binh and Son La, as well as Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Nghe An, and Thanh Hoa, where the majority of the Thai ethnic people in the country live. During the three-day event, various cultural and sports activities, featuring the Thai ethnic group's traditional identities, are held. The festival also includes mass artistic performances, traditional costume shows, tourism and cultural products as well as the revival of traditional ceremonies of the group. Various folk games are organized. Lai Chau has the maximum number of Thai people, numbering more than 400,000 people, accounting for 37% of the province's population. 150,000 tourists visit the province every year, 20,000 of whom are foreigners. (vietnamplus.vn Dec 28)
