More than 1 million tourists, including 4,800 foreigners, flocked to the northwestern mountainous province of Dien Bien from the outset of the year to May 7, according to the provincial Department of Culture and Sports.

Seventy years ago, Vietnam won the Dien Bien Phu battle, forcing the French government to sign the Geneva Agreement in July 1954 and marking the end of the French military presence in the whole Indochina.

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU) in the northern province of Dien Bien on May 4 evening offered incense and lit candles at Martyrs’ Cemetery A1 in Dien Bien Phu city in memory of fallen soldiers on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954-2024).

The Pathet Lao newspaper hailed Vietnam’s Dien Bien Phu Victory over French colonial rule as a source of national pride in an article published on May 6.

Many of the French soldiers who participated in the battle at Dien Bien Phu are now in their 90s. Several veterans express hope for better relations between Vietnam and France in the near future.

The Ban Flower Festival 2019 in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien will feature activities imbued with the cultural identities of the northwest region.