A key ritual marking the festival’s opening is the “Te Ta” ceremony, a traditional offering to water deities. Shamans, artisans, village elders, and leaders perform this ritual to pray for favorable weather, bountiful harvests, and peaceful lives.
This year’s festival featured 19 teams from wards and communes in Muong Lay town, as well as from Muong Cha and Tua Chua districts in Dien Bien province, and neighboring Lai Chau and Son La provinces. Throughout the 1-kilometer race, enthusiastic cheers from a large, lively crowd created a vibrant atmosphere.
Muong Lay also hosted the National Paragliding Championship, featuring 40 pilots from paragliding clubs across the country. The launch site was set in Ho Huoi Luong Hamlet, over 1,000 meters above sea level, with the landing zone in Mo Hamlet, Lay Nua Commune.
Festival-goers enjoyed various cultural and sporting activities, including a culinary competition, visits to traditional spaces of the Thai and Mong ethnic groups, and thrilling experiences like paragliding and jet skiing on the hydroelectric reservoir.
The Swallowtail Boat Racing Festival has become one of the most anticipated annual events in Dien Bien province. It serves as a source of pride for Muong Lay’s ethnic communities and a distinctive tourism attraction that draws visitors to the waterways at the start of the new year./.
