More than 1,000 artists and local people performed xoe dances on Thursday night to kick off the Muong Lo Culture, Sports and Tourism Week in Yen Bai Province's Nghia Lo Town. — Photo songtretv

YEN BAI (VNS)  — More than 1,000 artists and local people performed xoe dances on Thursday 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 trade and food fair, sports competition, buffalo fighting, and heritage status being given to three banyan trees in the area that are more than 300 years old.

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