Van Ho district, home to five ethnic groups of Mong, Thai, Muong, Kinh and Dao, is a place where many unique cultural values in festivals, customs, practices, rituals, costumes and traditional crafts converge. To preserve and promote the traditional cultural beauty of ethnic groups, over the past time, the women's unions at all levels in the district have implemented various practical activities, drawing the active participation of their members.

In the long-standing, unique traditional culture of mountainous ethnic groups, costume is a highly identifiable element, expressing the unique characteristics of each ethnic group. Costume contains the history and culture of each ethnic group, and is a heritage that has eternal value and needs to be preserved.

An art troupe from Son La province bagged two gold and three silver medals at the folk cultural performance competition for ethnic groups, which wrapped up in the central province of Quang Ngai on August 4.

The Military Region 2 held the closing ceremony of the 2024 Young Disseminator Contest on August 1.

Implementing the target of "Each member union maintains a form of culture-arts, physical training and sports" and the movement "Each woman should choose a suitable sport to practice every day" launched by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union, the Thuan Chau district Women's Union has mobilised its members to establish art troupes and sports clubs, creating conditions for members and women to practice.

The highland hamlets of Phieng Ban and Lom Khieu in Muong Giang commune, Quynh Nhai district, where all residents are Mong ethnic people, are working hard to preserve many unique traditional cultural features.

The 10th Mass Art Festival for the Armed Forces, Youths, and Students (Region 3) wrapped up with a ceremony held by the General Department of Politics under the Vietnam People's Army at the Hanoi-based Military Theatre on July 19.

The Son La provincial Museum has launched an application allowing people to tour the Son La Prison special national relic site with virtual reality (VR) technology, showing the effectiveness of preserving and promoting the value of the relic site in the digital age.

The Son La provincial Museum on July 6 organised the "Children with Heritage" programme in 2024.

Implementing the new-style rural area building programme, Moc Chau district has stepped up mobilisation of public resources to invest in the construction of rural roads, along with assistance from the state budget. In the 2019- 2024 period, the district has upgraded and concreted roads with a total length of nearly 128km, and a total investment of over 199 billion VND (7.8 million USD), of which nearly 88 billion VND came from the state budget, and more than 111 billion VND (4.36 million USD) from businesses and local people.

The finale of the "The Voice of the White Bauhinia Region" Festival 2024 took place at the Moc Chau Island Tourist Area in Moc Chau district in the evening of June 29, attracting crowds.

The provincial museum organised the "Children with Heritage" programme on June 29.

The Dong Sua Festival was held in Kha hamlet, Sap Vat commune, Yen Chau district on June 8, opening the series of activities of the 5th Yen Chau Mango Festival 2024. This festival features folk beliefs and the cultural beauty of the Thai ethnic group in Yen Chau district.

Candidates in Son La province completed the math test on the afternoon of June 1, ending the first day of the high school entrance exam. The exam took place at 44 venues safely and in accordance with regulations.

Folk music and mass dances have offered an endless source of inspiration for artists to create contemporary works of art with typical ethnic characteristics.

The People’s Committee of Mai Son district organised a ceremony in Sub-area No. 6, Hat Lot town, on May 17 to kick-start a project on preserving and embellishing the Cay Me (tamarind tree) historical relic site where the first cell of the provincial Party organisation was established.

Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Dien Bien (1954 - 2024), schools in Phu Yen district have organised experiential and educational activities for their students at a historical relic site related to the resistance war against the French in the forest of Nhot hamlet, Gia Phu commune, Phu Yen district.

Son La is a land rich in revolutionary traditions, with a lot of historical relic sites from the feudal period to the resistance wars against the French colonialists and US imperialists, which are evidence for the heroic times of the nation. Those sites have been preserved and promoted, becoming "red addresses" to educate revolutionary traditions for younger generations.

Sop Cop commune in Sop Cop district held a festival on April 20-22 to pray for bumper crops

The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on April 16 organised an art exchange programme to welcome writers and artists of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations on their journey named "Through the Northwest - Back to Dien Bien".