When it comes to northern Vietnam, the name that comes to mind is Sapa. That's the only name that pops into the heads of Japanese travelers, but deeper still within the same L\u00e0o Cai province, in the highland town of Si Ma Cai near the Chinese border, a festival built around orchard fruit-picking and ethnic-minority culture is beginning. \"Si Ma Cai – H\u01b0\u01a1ng S\u1eafc V\u00f9ng Cao (Si Ma Cai: Fragrance of the Highlands) 2026\" opens on June 26, with the main festival running through the 28th. Alongside it, a \"Fruit Week\" starring fruit trees continues through July 5. For those who want to walk a part of the northern highlands away from crowded Sapa, it's a development that widens the range of destinations to choose from.<\/p>\n
According to the local paper L\u00e0o Cai News, this is the festival's fourth year. The dates run June 26\u201328, and on opening day, the 26th, there will be a group dance of s\u00eanh ti\u1ec1n, bonfires and fireworks, and a display of OCOP regional specialty products. The 27th features experiences at C\u00e1n C\u1ea5u market, local cuisine, traditional folk games, a fruit and offering arrangement contest, and a night market. The 28th flows from a weaving contest and the \"\u0110\u1ec9nh Ph\u1eb7ng peak climbing challenge\" to an awards ceremony and closing.<\/p>\n
And running through it all is \"Fruit Week.\" From June 26 to July 5, visitors are invited to visit orchards of pears, plums, and more, and to pick and taste fruit right where it grows. A format that doesn't just let you look at the fruit but has you step into the growing fields and experience the harvest itself is a textbook way of turning farm produce into a tourism resource \u2014 overlapping with the \"making the production site itself the product\" approach Agriture has pursued with dried vegetables and dried pears.<\/p>\n
For Japanese travelers, the first hurdle is how hard the location is to pin down. Si Ma Cai is in the northeastern part of L\u00e0o Cai province, in a highland zone near the border with China. Pulling together the guidance from tour operators, it's roughly 100 km northeast of central L\u00e0o Cai city, a few dozen km north of the town of B\u1eafc H\u00e0 up provincial road DT153, and more than 100 km from Sapa. Since the distance figures vary by source, it's realistic to think of it here as \"a remote area a full day's journey from Sapa.\"<\/p>\n
The core of tourism in this area is C\u00e1n C\u1ea5u market, held only on Saturdays. Ethnic minorities, including the Flower Hmong, gather from the surrounding hills, and indigo-dyed garments, livestock, and farm produce fill the stalls. Unlike Sapa's market, which is tidied up for tourists, it's characterized by a strong feel of a market for daily life. As an article themed on the \"markets\" of the northern highlands, the report on a market floating in a sea of clouds, coveringthe cloud markets around B\u1eafc H\u00e0<\/a>is also worth a look. Si Ma Cai and B\u1eafc H\u00e0 sit on the same highland route, and touring them together is the standard approach.<\/p>\nDates and program at a glance<\/h2>\n