Son La province now has two people's artisans and 33 meritorious artisans who have made great contributions to preserving intangible culture of ethnic groups.

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Son La province, in collaboration with the People’s Committee of Van Ho district, organised an event on December 22 evening to summarise the experimentation of a model of building a cultural life in the Mong ethnic group in Long Luong commune.

Yen Chau is a border district with 14 communes and one town. It has a population of over 82,000, with 80% being ethnic minorities. In recent years, Yen Chau district has always paid attention to preserving and promoting the fine traditional cultural values of ethnic groups in association with tourism development, contributing to improving cultural enjoyment and spiritual life and creating jobs and income for ethnic minorities.

Chieng Sang commune, Yen Chau district houses three ethnic groups: Thai, Kinh and Kho Mu.

Van Ho district currently has 300 grassroots-level art teams. Recently, the district People's Committee has directed specialised agencies to implement many solutions to build and support the teams.

The provincial Department of Education and Training on November 29 organised a training course on applying the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) method in preschool education for managers and teachers.

The Sports Department of Vietnam Television (VTV) recorded the "Spring Dance 2024" programme at Northwest Square in Son La city on November 26.

Drums and gongs are musical instruments that play an extremely important role in the daily life and traditional beliefs of most ethnic groups in Son La province. They are associated with all traditional rituals and considered a soul in locals’ spiritual culture.

Up to 225 kindergartens with 3,272 class groups in Son La province are offering meals to 74,000 children.

After relocating residents for the construction of the Son La hydropower plant, Muong Chien commune, Quynh Nhai district now has three hamlets, with more than 400 households and nearly 1,800 people.

The Son La Radio and Television Station coordinated with the provincial Cinema and Culture Centre to organise a game show named “Ve ban em” (Coming to my hamlet) in Phu Yen district on November 13-14.

The Ethnic Culture Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism coordinated with Son La province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Van Ho district People's Committee organised a training course on preserving and promoting the cultural beauty of ethnic minority markets in Chieng Di 2 hamlet, Van Ho commune, on November 10-11.

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Son La province is coordinating with the People's Committees of Moc Chau and Van Ho districts to organize a five day training course on Dao Nom script for 50 students from Dao Tien ethnic groups in the two districts.

Since 2018, the provincial Union of Literature and Arts has coordinated with relevant units and localities to open 14 literary and art creation camps for more than 350 members.

The provincial Music, Song and Dance Theater has so far this year organised 50 performances to serve the political tasks of the province, agencies and localities; and 25 others in localities, serving over 100,000 viewers.

While Pieu scarf embroidery of the Thai ethnic people in many places is falling in oblivion, in Chieng Den commune of Son La city, this traditional craft is still maintained by local women, helping them have more income, and contributing to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural identity of the ethnic group.

Members of the Yen Chau Ethnic Culture Preservation Group, established in 2018, have actively studied and collected documents on the ancient Thai script, traditional customs, and spiritual festivals of the Thai and Kho Mu ethnic minorities to include them in a book.

The culinary culture of the Thai ethnic people is very rich and diverse, showing uniqueness in the selection of ingredients as well as the way of making dishes. Vegetables, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, flower bulbs, and fruits that are grown or grow naturally can become not only delicious and eye-catching dishes, but also good medicines. And papaya flower is such a dish.

The brocade weaving of the Thai ethnic people in Yen Chau has a long history. The skillfulness and resourcefulness of Thai ethnic women are reflected in the fabric they weave. To create nice brocade items, Thai women have to take many steps that require meticulousness from picking, drying, carding, twisting, rolling and spinning cotton to dyeing, colour mixing and skillfully embroidering. When getting married, every girl must have beautiful scarves and blankets as gifts to their parents-in-law.

A photo exhibition themed "Son La Coffee - The journey to create a brand" opened at Tay Bac Square, Son La city on October 21, as part of the activities of the first Son La Coffee Festival 2023.