Hundreds of young couples have spent a romantic Valentine’s Day together praying for a happy future at a festival held by the Pongour waterfall - dubbed the most beautiful spot in the South-Central Highlands.

Joining the saccharine event in Duc Trong district, Lam Dong province, lovebirds released lanterns and took an oath together under a special ‘love tree’.

They also mixed with the local Thai ethnic people and enjoyed a mountainous market, calligraphy demonstrations and an art exhibition featuring the stunning landscapes of Lam Dong.

The festival was the first in a planned series of cultural events celebrating National Tourism Year 2014 in the Central Highlands and Da Lat.

Meanwhile, couples also marked the special day at the Love Valley in Da Lat city, where they enjoyed an amateur horse race, among other quirky activities, and took in the romantic sighs of Mong Mo hill and Xuan Huong lake. Several prayed for love and happiness at pagodas in the city, as Valentine’s Day this year fell on the symbolic 15 th day of the first lunar month.

In the north, this year many couples celebrated Valentine’s Day by exploring the romantic and imposing beauty of mountains and forests in Sa Pa district, the northern mountainous of Lao Cai.

Visitors and local alike gathered in Sa Pa town centre to visit the market and stone church and serenade each other with love songs.-VNA