“Sapa Love Market” festival to revive north-western tourism

As an activity under the program of domestic stimulus tourism 2021, the cultural event aims to attract travelers to Sapa Town. The colorful festival will be held from November 19 to 21, 2021 in the downtown of Sapa, the northern province of Lao Cai. 

The scenery of Sapa. Photo: Long Nguyen

This year cultural festival titled “Sapa Love Market 2021” is jointly organized by eight northern mountain provinces including Phu Tho, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Son La and Yen Bai.

Attending the festival, travelers will not only have chance to admire the extraordinary mountainous landscapes, learn about ethnic minorities culture but also play games with ethnic people and enjoy exotic food with mountainous and forest flavor such as  H’Mong grilled pork, steamed black chicken, dried beef, steamed sticky-rice in bamboo and spicy horse’s organ hotpot, among others.

The “Sapa Love Market” is the highlight of the festival, featuring a campfire ceremony at night where ethnic people will talk, sing and play different games according to their ethnic groups’ tradition. In addition, the H’mong custom of “kidnapping wives” and a wedding ceremony of the Red Dao people will also be re-enacted at the festival.  

According to the Organizing Committee, in order to comply with Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control measure, some strict regulations for travelers will be enforced.

Specifically, domestic visitors must be vaccinated at least one dose and have not been traveling within 14 days before arriving in Sapa.

A Red Dao ethnic woman in Sapa Town. Photo: Vu Manh Cuong

Out-of-province tourists from “safe green areas” and not traveling through the pandemic area within 14 days will be allowed to come to Sapa, but must meet one of the following criteria: having been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 (the 2nd dose must be given 14 days before trip); being a recovered SARS-CoV-2 patient; having a negative test result for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR within 72 hours or by rapid test method within 24 hours before coming to the town. 

Located in the Hoang Lien Son Mountains of north-western side of Vietnam, Sapa is a small town famous for its green rice terraces, mountainous landscapes, waterfalls and ethnic culture.

Some tourist attractions that are suitable for hiking and trekking are Muong Hoa Valley, Love waterfalls, Silver Waterfalls, Sapa Lake and the Cat Cat Village.

The small mountainous town is also considered a number one place among winter destinations for a “fabulous escape that won’t burn your pocket” experience in Vietnam, according to National Geographic.