Lang Son Geopark was established within the administrative scope of five districts: Bac Son, Binh Gia, Van Quan, Chi Lang, Huu Lung with a total area of ​​3,845.8 km2, population 375,656, accounting for about 46.3 % of the area and 48.1% of the  population in the province. Lang Son Geopark is home to majestic nature and colorful culture, especially with many intangible cultural values.

Quynh Son Festival, Bac Son district

      The festival is held at the beginning of the year every year when Tet comes in the spring on the occasion of the agricultural leisure time, which is a typical feature of traditional culture. The traditional festivals in the Geopark are held with the main purpose of remembering the merits of those who have contributed to villages and Long Tong Festival, also known as the harvest festival with the purpose of praying to farmer gods to bless villagers to have a good crop.

Lion cat dance in Binh Gia district

       The activities in the ceremonial part of the festival clearly show the customs, practices and beliefs of ethnic minorities in Lang Son Geopark, the festival part features many traditional games: tug of war, pushing sticks, throwing cotton ball game, lion dance, sli singing and so on.

      The Geopark is a place where many traditional folk songs, dances and many legends, fairy tales are preserved: Tale of Thach Sanh; Legend of Thach Sung, King Nghieu, King Thuan, Luu Binh - Duong Le, Cong Tran - Co Tu (Tong Tran - Ngoc Hoa), Luong Son Ba - Anh Dai... These are folk songs: then singing, luon singing, quan lang, vi, phong slu, sli, ... of the Tay, Nung; Pao dung of the Dao; Hu Nhau of the H’Mong; xang co of the San Chay (San Chi group); sinh ca of the Cao Lan. In which, then singing has been inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Singing Sli on the sidelines of Chi Lang Custard Apple Festival

      Over hundreds of years of living, ethnic workers in the Geopark have built up a huge treasure of knowledge about nature, human life, production labor, medicine, pharmacy, traditional dishes imbued with national identity, the beauty of indigo color in traditional costumes of the Tay, Nung ethnic groups and melodies of then, sli, luon, etc., on festive occasions at the beginning of the year creating a distinct cultural feature.

      Ethnic minorities in the Geopark still preserve many traditional customs and practices: Dao ceremony, Birthday celebration, Ancestors Day (the 3rd day of the third month), Mid-year festival (the 5th day of the 5th Lunar Month) of the Tay people, the 6th day of the 6th lunar month is a new rice festival with the meaning of hoping for a good crop, warding off diseases, the 14th day of the 7th lunar month has the meaning of pardoning the sins of the dead, making offerings to the unjust souls who have no refuge.

Dao Ceremony

      Traditional craft villages are one of the unique features in Lang Son Geopark with skillful hands of artisans who have created unique and distinctive products filled with spirit, affection and hearts of the ethnic people here.

      In recent years, identifying the conservation of intangible culture as one of the key tasks, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has coordinated with the People's Committees of the districts to conduct an inventory of seven types of intangible cultural heritages, implementing a project to preserve traditional costumes of ethnic minorities in Lang Son province.

          Pham Huong