More than 1,000 artists and local people performed xoe dances to kick off the Muong Lo Culture, Sports and Tourism Week.

YEN BAI (Biz Hub) — More than 1,000 artists and local people performed xoe dances last night to kick off the Muong Lo Culture, Sports and Tourism Week in Yen Bai Province's Nghia Lo Town.

Xoe is a typical dance of the Thai ethnic minority groups in the north-west. Men and women hold hands to form a circle and dance to the rhythms played on instruments such as gourd lutes, drums, two-chord fiddles, gongs and cymbals.

The festival will continue till Monday with a range of activities, including an incense-offering ritual at the President Ho Chi Minh Memorial Complex, sports competition, buffalo fighting, and heritage status being given to three banyan trees in the area that are more than 300 years old.

Little girls participate into xoe dances. — VNA/VNS Photos

A trade and food fair, offering multiple local specialities such as dried food, seven-coloured stick rice and smoked pork, will be held on the sidelines of the festival.

The special week aims to promote solidarity and cultural exchange among ethnic minority groups in the region, as well as to strengthen the preservation and development of culture.

The event is expected to draw tourists and offer opportunities to investors to increase tourism collaboration in the northwestern region. — VNS