Khau Vai love market festival 2014 attracts visitors

The 2014 KhauVai Love Market Culture-Tourism Week will take place in MeoVac district, the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, from April 24-26.

The information was released by organisers at a press conference in Hanoi on April 17.

Highlighting the new features of this year’s event, Vice Chairman of the MeoVac district People’s Committee Tran Kim Ngoc said that the legendary love story will come to Cai Luong (reformed opera) stage for the first time at the opening ceremony of the week.

A beauty pageant will be held for young girls from mountainous areas in Ha Giang province, he said.

Visitors will have chances to join the market day’s activities and try to weave linen, make brocades and pan-pipes together with local artisans, and ride horses.

A string of cultural activities including goat, cow and nightingale fighting festivals, horse races, and incense offering at two temples in Khau Vai commune will also be held during the week.

In addition, there will be a seminar on preserving and promoting the cultural values of the stone plateau.

The hundred-year-old festival, which is held annually in the third lunar month, is a popular meeting place for ethnic groups in the locality, particularly those in love.

Legend has it that a couple who very much loved each other but could not live together made the promise to meet once every year in Khau Vai on the 27th of the third lunar month. From then on, the festival has been held every year on this day for ex-lovers to meet.

The event has now become a tourist attraction, drawing a huge number of domestic and foreign visitors.

Source: VNA