La Gi confidently organizes events.

The 2023 La Gi Town Half Marathon, held in the town in early June, is still vividly remembered by the locals for its opening ceremony at Nguyen Hue Park, which attracted nearly 1,000 athletes from 13 provinces and cities, with 790 out of 230 officially participating female athletes.

This was the first time such a large number of visitors had gathered in the town for a sporting event, and also the first time the town had organized a marathon with three distances: 7km, 10km, and 21km. Therefore, in the eyes of the professional marathon runners selected from various provinces and cities, La Gi was a brand-new competition venue. Their assessment was based on comparisons and accumulated knowledge from other places. They noted that La Gi boasts wide, clean, and beautiful roads, ideal for marathon running, not only along the less populated coastal route but also on the roads within the town. Because they were able to stay for 2-3 days, they had the opportunity to discover a La Gi with the potential for growth, with its gradually improving infrastructure and the potential to become a major urban center in the near future.

Athletes participating in the 2023 La Gi Town Open Half Marathon

Following the successful conclusion of the Half Marathon in October 2023, the town continued to organize the 2023 La Gi Town Open Cycling Race, with a distance of 42km, attracting nearly 100 athletes from 18 cycling clubs in Binh Thuan province. This was also the first time the town organized this sporting event, so the routes included in the race presented challenges for the cyclists and offered many surprises, as participants who had visited La Gi before noticed the rapid changes.

La Gi Town Open Cycling Race 2023

The athletes on the track

In fact, in just the last 2-3 years, besides projects invested by the province, La Gi has also mobilized the town's and province's budgets to focus on urban beautification. These aren't new investments, but mostly repairs, upgrades, and expansions of numerous existing roads. Therefore, all these projects share the same investment and construction goal: extending the lifespan of infrastructure, ensuring traffic safety; upgrading the urban road system in the town to better serve the transportation needs of the people, contributing to socio -economic development, and enhancing the town's aesthetics. And this year, thanks to a series of transportation projects included in the medium-term public investment plan for 2021-2025 that were completed ahead of schedule, another value has been created through the success of the sports events held there.

Hot asphalt paving on some urban roads.

As in the testing phase

Beyond roads, other infrastructure focusing on cultural institutions has also taken shape, creating diversity and richness while reflecting the stature of La Gi town. This is specifically demonstrated through various sporting events organized by the town during the 2023 National Tourism Year “Binh Thuan – Green Convergence”. These include the 2023 La Gi Town Open Men's and Women's Beach Volleyball Tournament, held on October 24, 2023, with nearly 50 athletes from 15 units inside and outside La Gi town participating; the La Gi Town Tennis Tournament held at the Dat Lanh Resort Tennis Court in La Gi town with over 20 athletes participating; and the Badminton Tournament to celebrate the September 2nd holiday with 60 athletes participating.

Nguyen Hue Park, La Gi town

Furthermore, Nguyen Hue Park, which underwent renovations and upgrades starting in 2021 to create green spaces and serve recreational needs, contributing to the urban landscape and other needs of the town's residents, has fully fulfilled its planned functions in 2023. First and foremost, it has long been a place for people to exercise and play day and night. In 2023, the park also served as the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of tournaments attracting thousands of people; and every Sunday evening, tourists and residents can gather to enjoy street music performances…

The procession to welcome the Master and Mistress and the imperial decree to the Palace.

The Ceremony of Welcoming the Master and Mistress and the Royal Decree to the Palace

Traditional Cake Making Contest

Traditional Cake Making Contest

Traditional Cake Making Contest

Fish carrying competition

The competition of carrying baskets out to sea.

Dragon fruit harvesting competition

Net weaving competition

Tug-of-war competition

The successful arrangement and selection of venues for the sports events demonstrate that the town has a team that is beginning to familiarize itself with event management. This was also evident in the organization of the Traditional - Cultural - Tourism Festival at Thầy Thím Shrine in 2023, which took place from October 28-30, 2023, attracting many viewers from other areas through the live televised opening ceremony. During the three days of the festival, the town organized all the traditional rituals and implemented many festive activities, such as: a cake-making competition, a tug-of-war competition, a net-casting competition, a fish-carrying competition, a basket-carrying competition, a singing competition for magpies, a chess performance; and games like blindfolded duck catching, blindfolded pot smashing, and dragon fruit harvesting… to entertain visitors to Thầy Thím Shrine and the people of Tam Tân village.

In addition, three art performances were organized over three nights for tourists, featuring artists from Ho Chi Minh City and the Bien Xanh Music and Dance Troupe. All of this elevated the festival, attracting approximately 30,000 visitors to the Thầy Thím Shrine and fulfilling the town's registration with the Provincial People's Committee to support the 2023 National Tourism Year, "Binh Thuan – Green Convergence". This contributed to an estimated 275,000 visitors to the town in 2023, an increase of 19,200 compared to the same period, generating revenue of approximately 170.8 billion VND.

According to the People's Committee of La Gi town, the sports events and cultural activities organized by the town in response to the 2023 National Tourism Year "Binh Thuan - Green Convergence" were successful, contributing to promoting tourism and the image of La Gi town to tourists. This also enriched the town's sports and physical education movement and fostered exchange and learning with other localities. Furthermore, this successful trial run has given the town more confidence to organize similar or larger-scale events once its infrastructure is fully developed.

BICH NGHI - PHOTO BY N. LAN

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/tu-nam-du-lich-quoc-gia-2023-binh-thuan-hoi-tu-xanh-la-gi-tu-tin-to-chuc-nhung-su-kien-114678.html