The festival is expected to attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists, offering an opportunity for the province to promote the image of its land, people and cultural heritage values.

Coming to Tuyen Quang on this occasion, visitors can not only immerse themselves in a bustling atmosphere of drumbeat, music with traditional folk dances performed by young men and women in traditional costumes, but also choose from the many unique local tourism gifts.

Currently, souvenir items in the locality are diverse in types and shapes, of which products of the One Commune One Product programme (OCOP) take a large market share. They include tea, bamboo shoots, honey, peanut oil, black bean filter tea bags, dried buffalo meat, and wood incense tea. Many OCOP products have eye-catching packages, high quality and reasonable prices which are sought after by travelers.

Phan Thanh Nhan, a tourist from Son La province’s Phu Yen city, said she sees a variety of OCOP products that have beautiful package designs and are full of information, making her feel secure while choosing gifts for her relatives at a store in Tuyen Quang city.

Nhan said that she hopes more OCOP sale points will be opened to make it more convenient for tourists to shop.

According to Nguyen Tien Hung, Director of the provincial Investment Promotion Centre, there are 191 OCOP certified products at three stars or above. Of these, 149 products are recognised with three stars, 41 products four stars, and three products proposed for five stars.

Some units and individuals in the province also proactively develop souvenir products based on local products and culture. Lam Binh Brocade Cooperative is a typical example. Women of the Tay, Dao, Mong and Pa Then ethnic groups have made many products ranging from brocade pants and shirts to souvenirs, blankets, hats and scarves. These items have crafted patterns, carefully woven with traditional materials so they are favoured by tourists.

Nguyen Manh Thang, who resides in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, said the souvenirs made from brocade are very unique and have reasonable prices, adding that he has bought a lot of products as gifts for his colleagues and family members.

Thanh Tuyen Festival is not only a unique cultural feature every Mid-Autumn Festival in Tuyen Quang province, attracting a large number of people of various ethnic groups to participate, but is also the largest of its kind in the country, with many records confirmed by the Vietnam Guinness Book of Records such as the festival with the most unique and largest Mid-Autumn lantern models in Vietnam, the largest Mid-Autumn Festival tray in Vietnam, and the largest pair of lanterns in Vietnam.

Since 2015, Thanh Tuyen Festival has been organised in association with many cultural, artistic, sports and tourism activities. After a two-years hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Thanh Tuyen Festival in 2022 was resumed on a provincial scale, with the participation of districts and city in the province, foreign localities with friendly cooperative relations with the province and many agencies, organisations and businesses inside and outside the province.

According to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, in 2022, the locality welcomed over 2.3 million visitors, earning a revenue of over 2.4 trillion VND (102.1 million USD). The province strives to attract over 2.5 million visitors in 2023 and get a revenue of 3 trillion VND./. VNA