Tourist numbers in Xieng Khuang province have jumped during the Hmong New Year festivities, which began on November 18 and end this week.
Hmong women wear their traditional dress at the New Year festival last week in Paek district, Xieng Khuang province.
The province hosted a special festival for people from the Hmong ethnic group this year, with visitors from all over Laos and abroad attending the event, according to local authorities.
In the past Hmong communities in each province have held their own individual celebrations, said an official with the provincial Tourism Department, Ms Somphayvanh Thannasin.
Over 21,000 tourists have visited Xieng Khuang province so far this year, including 15,800 foreigners. Last year the province received almost 23,000 tourists, she said.
Visitor numbers to the province’s famous Plain of Jars have increased from an average of 300 per day to around 500 during the Hmong New Year festival, a tourism official working at the site, Mr Bounkham Sorkhamphouvanh, told Vientiane Times last week.
Guesthouses and hotels in the province’s main Paek district have been booked out during the festival.
The festivities include displays of traditional Hmong costumes, mark khone performances, traditional Hmong games and trade fairs featuring products from different areas of Laos and the region.
Visitors have been treated to cultural performances by Hmong artists from Vientiane and Xieng Khuang provinces.
The festival also included a Miss Hmong Aphone beauty contest, performances of Hmong songs and dances, and cattle and buffalo fights, which this year have included 80 cattle and 10 buffaloes.
The event is an opportunity for people of the Hmong ethnic group to preserve and promote their traditional culture and customs and share them with visitors.
Those Hmong people who could not attend the festival have celebrated the New Year in their local communities around the nation.
By Khamphone Syvongxay
November 28, 2009
Vientiane Times
