The opening ceremony featured folk songs and dances of Thai ethnic groups, which praised the country’s land, people and culture.

The Lao ethnic group from Dien Bien province introduced their traditional craft of brocade weaving to visitors at the event. Duong Thi Phanh, a 43-year-old Thai woman from Dien Bien province, said that she started weaving at the age of 12. She revealed that growing cotton, spinning, and dyeing are important steps to make a high-quality brocade product.

It often takes a skilled woman two or three days to complete a scarf, which can be sold for between VND200,000 and VND250,000.

Mong ethnic men from Dien Bien province performing their traditional blacksmithing techniques.

Mong people produce knife, ax, spade and hoe by themselves, which are sharp for years of using.

Visitors at the event could warm their belly with a bowl of thang co (an indigenous hotpot of horse or beef meat).

An ethnic woman has just finished cooking xoi nep cam (purple sticky rice).

Smoked pork and sausage, two signature dishes of the northern mountainous region.