Lang Son Peach Blossom Festival 2024: A unique cultural space in early spring

– With the theme “Radiant Peach Blossoms – Shining Brightly and Reaching Far”, the Lang Son Peach Blossom Festival will take place from January 26th to March 9th, 2024 (from the 16th day of the 12th lunar month of the Year of the Rabbit to the 29th day of the 1st lunar month of the Year of the Dragon). Currently, preparations for the festival are being urgently implemented by all levels, sectors, and related units in coordination.

The judging panel of the beautiful peach blossom garden and peach tree contest for the Spring of the Year of the Dragon (2014) is evaluating the peach blossom garden in Loc Binh district.

The Lang Son Peach Blossom Festival is one of the province's most prominent and significant annual cultural, sports , and tourism events, associated with celebrating the Party and the Lunar New Year. This is the sixth time the festival has been held, featuring a variety of activities offering new and exciting experiences. The festival promises to be an attractive event, drawing large numbers of participants.

Mr. Phan Van Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism , said: In implementing Plan No. 203/KH-UBND dated October 20, 2023, of the Provincial People's Committee on organizing the Lang Son Peach Blossom Festival and activities celebrating the Party and the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Dragon 2024, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued a document guiding member units to develop content for participation in the festival's activities. At the same time, it has proactively coordinated with relevant agencies and units to develop a detailed plan for organizing the activities.

Accordingly, the 2024 Lang Son Peach Blossom Festival, themed "Brilliant Peach Blossom Colors – Shining Brightly, Reaching Far," will take place from January 26th to March 9th, 2024 (from the 16th day of the 12th lunar month of the Year of the Rabbit to the 29th day of the 1st lunar month of the Year of the Dragon). The festival is not only a vibrant space for visitors to admire the blossoms but also features many special activities such as: a peach blossom fair and tours to experience the beauty of Lang Son peach blossoms; visits to and experiences of the peach blossom promotion area and the 2024 Lang Son Spring Flower Street. Within the framework of the festival, there will also be a competition for the most beautiful peach garden and peach blossom tree of the Spring of the Year of the Dragon 2024; a professional art exchange program with Bang Tuong Town (Guangxi, China) to celebrate the Ky Cung – Ta Phu Festival; a spring cross-country race; and a journey to explore the heritage of the Lang Son Geopark…

Coordinating units are preparing the cherry blossom display area at Chi Lang Park, Lang Son City.

The highlight of the 2024 Lang Son Peach Blossom Festival is the opening ceremony, taking place at 8 PM on February 1st, 2024, on Hung Vuong Street, Chi Lang Ward, Lang Son City, featuring a spectacular artistic performance themed "Shining Peach Blossoms - Reaching Far and Wide". To ensure the smooth running of the opening night's performances, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has signed a contract with Ham Nghi Joint Stock Company (Hanoi) and directed the Provincial Cultural and Arts Center to coordinate the program.

To date, the coordinating unit has completed the script for the festival's opening ceremony. Accordingly, the artistic performances in the program are meticulously and elaborately staged with three main parts: the first part, themed "Legend of a Flower," speaks about spring and the significance of the peach blossoms of Lang Son; the second part, themed "The Beauty of Lang Son," showcases the beauty of the land and people of Lang Son; and the third part, themed "Lang Son, My Homeland, Vietnam, My Country," speaks about Lang Son during the period of innovation, development, and integration... The performance brings together hundreds of artists and actors from within and outside the province, along with the presence of famous artists such as Ho Quynh Huong, Hoang Hai, ISSAC, and rappers like Phuc Bo, RamC... With thorough preparation, the opening ceremony promises to be a meaningful and colorful gift for the audience, while contributing to the success of this year's festival.

To widely promote and introduce the activities taking place during the 2024 Lang Son Peach Blossom Festival, publicity efforts have been intensified through various media channels. Over the past two months, the Provincial Tourism Promotion Center has been promoting the festival on tourism websites and fan pages.

At the same time, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has deployed banners and flags to promote the peach blossom festival, along with large billboards along main roads, border gates, and areas bordering other provinces; on January 10th, the festival organizing committee issued a press release regarding the organization of the Lang Son Peach Blossom Festival and activities celebrating the Party and the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Dragon 2024.

Mr. Tran Le Truong, Head of the City's Culture and Information Department, said: The city has been assigned the tasks of designing and decorating the spring flower street; organizing the Quang Lac Peach Blossom Fair associated with the peach blossom garden tourist route… We have advised the City People's Committee to develop an implementation plan, assigning specific tasks to the People's Committees of wards and communes and related units to ensure that the tasks are carried out on schedule.

Reportedly, this is the first year that Lang Son city has undertaken the task of "creating" a peach blossom space in Chi Lang Park. To create this space, Lang Son city will display nearly 200 beautiful peach trees of diverse varieties. On this occasion, the city will officially launch a commercial electric tram service around the city and the spring flower street area, aiming to best serve the sightseeing needs of the people and tourists.

Along with designing the spring flower street, the City People's Committee also directed the Quang Lac Commune People's Committee to organize a peach blossom fair. Mr. Pham Dinh Duy, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Quang Lac Commune People's Committee, said: Quang Lac is the area with the most peach blossom trees in the city, with an area of nearly 50 hectares. From January 26th to February 9th, 2024, in Quang Trung 1 village, the commune will organize a peach blossom fair with the theme "Pink hues welcoming spring," with the participation of nearly 100 gardeners and more than 1,000 peach trees.

Along with other ongoing activities, the "Beautiful Peach Blossom Garden and Peach Blossom Tree" contest for the Spring of the Year of the Dragon 2024, and the "Peach Blossom Painting Contest of Lang Son 2024" have been launched in districts and cities and are receiving attention from relevant units. Accordingly, since the beginning of December 2023, the owners of 14 peach blossom gardens in 9 districts and cities participating in the contest have focused on tending, pruning, bagging, girdling, and stimulating the growth of their peach trees. Ms. Hoang Thi Hoa, from Cau Lam area, Loc Binh town, said: "My family's peach blossom garden covers an area of about 8,500 square meters with more than 1,200 peach trees of 4 varieties: pink peach blossom, light pink peach blossom, white peach blossom, and seven-inch peach blossom; of which about 100 trees are 5 years old. My family is very excited to represent the district in this year's beautiful peach blossom garden contest." Besides focusing on ensuring the trees bloom evenly, have beautiful shapes, and clear the area within the garden, we also build scenic features such as swings and playgrounds so that visitors can admire the peach blossoms and take beautiful photos with them.

Besides the above activities, during the more than one month of the Peach Blossom Festival, many tourist routes and exhibitions will be designed to attract and develop local tourism. For example, there will be a thematic exhibition titled "Listening to the Ky Cung River Tell Stories." Mr. Nong Duc Kien, Director of the Provincial Museum, said: "The exhibition will focus on portraying the beauty of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the ethnic groups living along the Ky Cung River. We will arrange several typical cultural spaces of these ethnic groups for visitors to take photos and check in, with many unique models such as: traditional houses, stilt houses, brocade roads, grassy hills… To date, we have completed the drafting of the outline, mock-ups, and selection of exhibits."

Building on the successes of previous festivals, we are confident that the 2024 Peach Blossom Festival will continue to contribute to honoring the unique values and beautiful images of life, people, and traditional cultural values of the ethnic groups in Lang Son, exploiting existing tourism potential, effectively promoting the value of heritage sites and scenic spots, and further promoting and introducing the distinctive tourism products of Lang Son province to domestic and international tourists.

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