Located in the northwest of the homeland, Dien Bien is not only known as the territory marking the historic victory “glorious across five continents, shaking the planet”, but also nicknamed the land of Bauhinia flowers – a flower born of love, symbolizing the mountains, forests, and people of the northwest. That’s why the Bauhinia Flower Festival, organized every year in March in Dien Bien, is an opportunity to celebrate the beauty and value of this flower in the cultural life of the ethnic communities of the northwest. This is also an opportunity for visitors to experience a memorable Northern Vietnam tour.
The Bauhinia Flower Festival – celebrating the beauties of the culture of the northwest ethnic groups
Where is Dien Bien located?
Dien Bien, a province situated in the northwest region of Vietnam, is famous for the majesty of its mountains, the cultural diversity of its ethnic minorities, and as a place of preservation of historical values.
This region is closely linked to important historical events, particularly the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, a decisive turning point in the Indochina War, paving the way for the reunification of Vietnam.
In addition to its historical value, Dien Bien attracts visitors with its magnificent natural landscapes such as waterfalls, lakes, and especially villages of ethnic minorities, where visitors have the opportunity to discover and experience the unique cultural life of these communities.
The myth of the Bauhinia flower
The Bauhinia flower
The myth of the Bauhinia flower is closely related to a tragic but profound love story in the legend of the Thai ethnic groups of the northwest. It is said that once there was a beautiful Thai girl named Ban (Bauhinia), who was in love with a poor young man from the same village but was prevented by her parents from marrying him, being forced to marry a wealthy man.
Saddened and tormented, she fled into the forest in search of her love, shouting his name without success. After crossing a mountain range, she collapsed on a rock. The place where she fell gave birth to a flower with white buds resembling female hands. Shortly after, this flower grew everywhere in the northwest mountains.
It was called the Bauhinia flower. For generations, the Bauhinia flower has become a symbol of the cultural and spiritual life of the northwest inhabitants.
Meaning of the festival
As visitors traverse the mountains, roads leading to Dien Bien city, or the small trails leading to villages, they can see fields of blooming Bauhinia flowers. Whether on grassy hillsides or clinging to steep cliffs, this flower carries within it a powerful life with enchanting beauty. It is a complete, full beauty, a dazzling beauty that is both simple, modest, wild, but also subtle and enticing.
With the aim of paying homage and celebrating the beauty of the Bauhinia flower, affirming its value and place in the cultural and spiritual life of the northwest ethnic groups, since 2014, Dien Bien province has been organizing the Bauhinia Flower Festival.
Opening ceremony of the Bauhinia Flower Festival 2022
The festival is an opportunity to promote the traditional cultural beauties and values of the community of the 19 brother ethnic groups of Dien Bien province to tourists as well as national and international friends. It aims to preserve and develop the typical forms of cultural heritage of the ethnic groups, to transform heritage values into internal resources to boost tourism, and to connect with other potentials and forces to contribute to the socio-economic development of Dien Bien province.
When is the Bauhinia Flower Festival?
The festival takes place every year in March when the Bauhinia flower is in full bloom.
So, when will the 2024 Bauhinia Flower Festival take place?
The 2024 Bauhinia Flower Festival will take place from March 13 to 18, 2024, in Dien Bien Phu city, Dien Bien province. It is associated with the opening of the National Tourism Year – Dien Bien Phu with the theme “Return to the land of Bauhinia flowers”.
It is a major event aimed at promoting Vietnam’s tourist destinations in general and Dien Bien province in particular. It is also a celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory of Dien Bien Phu, the 115th anniversary of the founding of Dien Bien province, and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in Dien Bien province.
Planned activities during the event
The Bauhinia Flower Festival harbors the characteristics of cultural and spiritual beauty in the spiritual life of compatriots of the Thai ethnicity, with rituals of venerating the gods to request abundant rain, harmonious winds, a prosperous harvest, abundant flowering, fruitfulness, for the happiness of couples, and the protection of inhabitants’ lives to always be warm and peaceful.
On the sidelines of activities within the framework of the festival, when coming to Dien Bien during the Bauhinia Flower season, tourists can admire landscapes covered with white Bauhinia flowers in historical, cultural sites, and villages.
The Bauhinia Flower in Dien Bien
There are also numerous remarkable tourist sites, notable resorts such as: the Uva hot springs, Pe Luong, Pa Thom cave, Pa Khoang lake, and some historical sites related to beliefs and spirituality such as the historical site of Muong Phang, the temple of Hoang Cong Chat, the cultural site of Linh Son, the spiritual complex of Linh Quang…
Particularly, Dien Bien is also known by numerous national and international friends for the Dien Bien Phu Battle site – where the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu is inscribed as “glorious on five continents, shaking the planet”.
Moreover, tourists can also experience the beautiful culture of indigenous peoples here by tasting ethnic cuisine, immersing themselves in the rhythms of drums and gongs of enchanting circle dances…
Activities at the 2024 Bauhinia Flower Festival
This year’s Bauhinia Flower Festival is a special occasion as it is associated with the opening of the National Tourism Year – Dien Bien Phu. Therefore, this year’s activities will be richer and more grandiose.
Among the activities, there will be the opening ceremony of the National Tourism Year – Dien Bien Phu 2024 with the theme: “Return to the land of Bauhinia flowers”, including an exceptional artistic program and a spectacular fireworks display scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on March 16, 2024, at the 7-5 square in Dien Bien Phu city.
The opening artistic program will be designed with high artistic quality, showcasing the material and immaterial cultural values, as well as remarkable tourist products of Vietnam; while disseminating messages about the history, culture, and tourism of Vietnam and Dien Bien province.
In addition to artistic performances, the organizers will spread the festive atmosphere through community activities, including large-scale circle dances, community experience spaces crafted by artisans, and the contemplation of a grand and dazzling fireworks display.
Moreover, this year’s festival will feature cultural spaces of the highlands, introducing characteristic spaces of the region and unique local agricultural products. It is also an opportunity for visitors to discover traditional cuisine and participate in folk games of the northwest ethnic groups such as swings, ball throwing, traditional wrestling, hide and seek, blindfolded games, tightrope walking, javelin throwing…
It will also showcase images and artifacts of residence sites, work activities, culinary culture, clothing, traditional crafts, and folk performances of the ethnic groups of Dien Bien province. These activities not only bring visitors to explore the mountains of the Northwest but also to discover Vietnam.
This is also the first time Dien Bien organizes a live spectacle and presents outstanding legends, stories, and folk dances of the Thai ethnic groups, associated with tourist destinations to meet the discovery and experiential needs of visitors.
Furthermore, to immerse in the atmosphere of historical commemoration, the festival will organize numerous activities to revive the unforgettable years, including competitions of wheelbarrow pushing, ammunition loading competitions.
Bicycles transporting food during the war
The images of wheelbarrows and ammunition-laden workers during the campaign have become symbols of the people’s strength, contributing significantly to the campaign’s victory and will be recreated through the competitions.
Participants will not only be athletes, but the space will also be open to residents and visitors to participate in the experience. This will be an interesting corner during your Vietnam tour and impressive festival with related historical and contemporary significance.
Learn more: Mai Chau: Meet the northwest masterpiece of Vietnam
