On the morning of February 26, 2026 (the 10th day in the Lunar New Year marking the Year of Binh Ngo), at the Stadium in Hamlet 4, the People’s Committee for Ea Ning commune organised the opening ceremony for the First Viet Bac Folk Culture Festival together with the Traditional Boat Racing Event in Ea Ning commune in 2026.

The festival is scheduled across three days, spanning February 26-28, 2026, offering an occasion for ethnic communities within the locality to engage in exchanges, showcase distinctive cultural features as well as honour long-standing traditions. Immediately following the opening ceremony, a range of vibrant cultural-artistic programmes was presented, comprising mass art performances, Then singing accompanied by the Tinh lute, demonstrations of traditional musical instruments, plus displays featuring traditional costumes representing various ethnic groups, which received enthusiastic applause from spectators.

Delegates presenting flowers to artists and performing art troupes at the festival.

Furthermore, the festival presents a broad array of vibrant activities, including traditional sports competitions, folk games, a culinary contest featuring dishes imbued with regional identity, camping programmes, alongside the New Year ceremonial pole-raising ritual. These events contribute to recreating the distinctive cultural space associated with Viet Bac, offer a meaningful recreational platform, while strengthening exchanges as well as community bonds.

The highlight within the event series is the Traditional Boat Racing Festival, scheduled for March 1 (the 13th day in the first lunar month) at Irrigation Reservoir No. 24, located in Hamlet 1, Ea Ning Commune. This appealing traditional sporting event embodies solidarity together with collective strength, while paying tribute to the locality’s distinctive riverine cultural heritage.

The Viet Bac Folk Culture Festival together with the Traditional Boat Racing Event is organised with the aim of honouring, preserving as well as promoting the fine traditional cultural values among various ethnic groups, while creating a joyful, vibrant atmosphere that meets people’s demand for spiritual-cultural enjoyment following a year devoted to labour plus production.

Delegates visiting culinary booths set up by participating hamlets and villages at the event.

The festival further offers an occasion for hamlets plus villages to exchange experiences, learn from one another, while strengthening solidarity alongside community bonds, thereby contributing toward continued development at grassroots cultural level, as well as preservation and promotion of national cultural identity within the context of integration coupled with development.

Addressing the ceremony, Chairman Chu Thanh Tan of the Ea Ning Commune People’s Committee stated that preparations regarding the festival had been conducted carefully, ensuring safety, solemnity, thrift together with efficiency. The event not only satisfies residents’ needs concerning spring festivities plus spiritual-cultural enjoyment, but also contributes toward preservation as well as promotion of cultural identities among ethnic groups, reinforcement of the great national unity bloc, alongside promotion of the locality’s image plus tourism potential.

Translated by HAI LOAN