Festival-goers given chance to paraglide over extinct volcano

Gia Lai (VNS/VNA) - For the first time, tourists attending the Chu Dang Ya Wild Sunflower – Volcano Festival will have a chance to experience paragliding.

The one-week festival will be held in Chu Dang Ya and Nghia Hung communes in Chu Pah district, in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, from November 11-17.

According to the organiser, festival-goers can contemplate the breathtaking landscape created by yellow wild sunflower carpets and majestic mountains from a birds-eye view while flying together with a professional paraglider.

“Paragliding is a new tourist product expected to attract more tourists to this year’s festival. Tourists can enjoy paragliding to scan the natural view from above,” said the head of the Chu Pah District’s Culture and Information Unit, Nguyen Minh Duc.

To ensure flight safety, the Gia Lai Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism coordinated with the Hanoi Paragliding Club to conduct a safety test with paragliding over the Chu Dang Ya extinct volcano.

After the test flight, the pilots agreed that Chu Dang Ya satisfies all requirements for paragliding, including weather, wind, and especially, the beautiful scenery of the Central Highland region.

On November 11 and 12, the Son Tra Paragliding Club members will showcase both paragliding and paramotoring performances.

Along with paragliding, traditional sports games will be held, such as tug of war, stilt walk, and jumping in a sack. Other activities include a running race with the running track passing by famous sightseeing spots, a walking competition to conquer Chu Chu Dang Ya peak and Chu Nam peak, where participants can also enjoy the entire extinct volcano covered in yellow wild sunflowers.

The festival will also feature other cultural activities, such as the demonstration of traditional ethnic rituals, gong performances, and demonstrations of traditional crafts of local Jrai and Ba Na ethnic people.

Artisans from 14 communes and townships in the Chu Pah district will gather to show off their refined skills in bamboo and brocade weaving, wooden sculpture carving, and traditional music instrument crafting.

A demonstration of the new rice celebration, one of the most important rituals of the Jrai ethnic group, will be held on November 12. The ceremony will take place in the front yard of the rong (ethnic communal house) in La Gri village, located by the Chu Dang Ya ex-volcano.

The distinctive ethnic culture can be learnt through its gastronomy. Therefore, festival-goers can enjoy several local specialities and famous agricultural products available for sale at the communal house.

The annual Chu Dang Ya Wild Sunflower–Volcano Festival aims to celebrate the people and traditional cultural values of ethnic groups living in the area.

“This is also an opportunity for us to present and promote sightseeing spots and cultural activities to tourists, thereby attracting investment in tourism,” said Duc, head of Chu Pah district’s Culture and Information Division.

Every year, in November, thousands of people flock to the region to enjoy the beautiful landscape when the wild sunflowers bloom, which cover the mountainsides in a bright yellow colour./.