Awaken the winter season with a series of year-end festivals.

Ending 2025 with an impressive 10.5 million visitors (exceeding the target by 2%) and revenue reaching approximately 46.5 trillion VND, Lao Cai's tourism sector had a brilliant year. Not letting winter become a lull, the province's tourism industry is striving to transform the highland cold into an attractive asset through a series of well-planned events, closely linked between localities.

As the opening event for the year-end series, Sa Pa ward has prepared an elaborate plan spanning from the end of October 2025 to the beginning of 2026. The highlight of the series is the Sa Pa Snow Festival, taking place from December 20, 2025 to January 1, 2026 at the Ethnic Culture Park. With the theme "Winter Dance in the Source of Culture," the festival not only utilizes the characteristic foggy or icy scenery to attract visitors, but also deeply recreates the living spaces of the five indigenous ethnic communities: Mong, Dao, Tay, Giay, and Xa Pho. Visitors will be immersed in a cultural space of all four seasons, where folk songs, dances, and traditional games are performed vividly amidst the cold weather.

Sa Pa is bustling with year-end festivals. (Photo: Trung Kien).

Besides its cultural attractions, Sa Pa also offers visitors top-notch culinary and entertainment experiences. The Sa Pa Culinary Record-Setting event, held during Christmas, will celebrate dishes made from cold-water fish and local OCOP (One Commune One Product) products. Especially, New Year's Eve on December 31st will be filled with excitement with a Countdown program at the Sa Pa town square. The combination of electronic music from DJs, performances by professional dance troupes, and a low-altitude fireworks display to welcome 2026 promises to provide a spectacular experience for tens of thousands of visitors. Furthermore, those who love exploring pristine nature can try their hand at the Sa Pa Forever mountain bike race in mid-December, conquering the challenging uphill route to the fairytale-like Sâu Chua at an altitude of over 1,700 meters.

The horse race, held weekly on Saturday afternoons, attracts a large number of tourists and locals. (Photo: Le Hieu - Minh Tam).

Leaving the bustling mountain town of Sa Pa, tourists arrive in Bac Ha commune to experience the Winter Festival with the theme "Colors of the Highlands," taking place from mid-November. The most strategic change in Bac Ha this year is the introduction of the traditional horse racing event as a weekly activity on Saturday afternoons, instead of just once a year as before. At the commune's central stadium, visitors will witness the dramatic competition of 30 jockeys – all farmers – controlling horses accustomed to working in the fields, now transformed into powerful warhorses on the racetrack.

Beyond horse racing, Bac Ha captivates visitors with authentic cultural experiences from early morning to late night. In the morning, visitors immerse themselves in the Buffalo Market – considered the very heart of highland culture – to experience its unique and bustling trading atmosphere. As the sun rises, the journey continues with a horseback riding adventure to conquer Ngai Thau Hill in Na Ang A village, chasing clouds and admiring the valley from above. As night falls, the Bac Ha Night Market comes alive with vibrant colors, featuring ethnic costume competitions and cultural performances steeped in the sounds of the mountains and forests.

Discussing this series of activities, Mr. Ha Tat Dinh, Head of the Culture and Social Affairs Department of Bac Ha commune, said: Through organizing weekly horse races and practical experience activities, the locality hopes to transform heritage values ​​into concrete tourism products. This not only helps tourists feel the strength, pride, and unique, original culture of Bac Ha, but also creates sustainable livelihoods for the local people.

As a captivating new addition to the tourism landscape of Lao Cai, Mu Cang Chai commune welcomes visitors with the Mong Flute Festival and the To Day Flower Festival, taking place in early January 2026. This is the time when the To Day flower – a characteristic wild peach blossom of the Northwest region – blooms most brilliantly, painting the mountain slopes of Trong Tong, Hang Gang, and Lung Cung peaks pink. Visitors come here not only to chase clouds and admire the flowers, but also to immerse themselves in the rich cultural identity of the Mong people.

The flowers of the "tớ dày" tree in Mù Cang Chải usually bloom profusely at the end of the year and continue into the beginning of January of the following year.

The highlight of the festival is the street parade featuring six groups of amateur performers. Visitors will witness the diversity in costumes and cultural nuances of the Hmong and Thai ethnic groups. The Hmong flute – the soul of the highlands – will resonate throughout the festival through solo and duet flute dances and ensemble performances. In addition, experiential activities such as rice cake pounding competitions, spinning top competitions, and beeswax pattern painting demonstrations will help visitors gain a deeper understanding of the rich spiritual life of the local people.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Hiep, Chairman of the People's Committee of Mu Cang Chai commune, shared: "With the goal of building Mu Cang Chai into a unique, safe, and friendly tourist destination, the locality has proactively linked with neighboring communes to create a unified tourism product supply chain. Organizing the To Day flower festival and the Mong flute festival is a way for the locality to showcase its majestic natural potential, while simultaneously honoring and preserving the precious intangible cultural values ​​of the ethnic groups."

N The vibrant activities in Sa Pa, Bac Ha, and Mu Cang Chai are not isolated events, but rather part of a well-planned overall strategy by the provincial Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

In the coming period, the industry will focus on advising on the development of a strategic framework for provincial tourism development until 2030, with a vision to 2050, prioritizing the review and upgrading of local tourism events to the provincial level. A key direction will be the development of adventure sports tourism products associated with mountain peaks such as Ky Quan San, Nhiu Co San, Lao Than, and the majestic waterfall system.

In particular, the Department is surveying and developing a green tourism program – an eco-community connecting the Fansipan - Mu Cang Chai - Suoi Giang route and the Thac Ba lake area. At the same time, new and unique products such as tourism along the Nam Thi River, the Red River, or railway tourism are also being studied and piloted to expand the experiential space for tourists.

With strong growth momentum in 2025 and thorough strategic preparation, Lao Cai is confidently entering 2026. The support of the business community and efforts to promote tourism to key markets such as ASEAN and Northeast Asia will be key to ensuring that Lao Cai's tourism not only thrives in winter but also rises to become a leading destination in the region.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/danh-thuc-mua-dong-bang-chuoi-le-hoi-cuoi-nam-post888872.html