In late August, as the terraced rice fields around Khau Pha Pass turn a brilliant gold, the skies of Tu Le – Mu Cang Chai enter their most vibrant season of the year. The Golden Season Paragliding Festival 2026 (also known as Flying Over The Land of Wonders) opens on the morning of August 30, 2026 at the Khau Pha Pass paragliding landing field in Lim Thai village, Tu Le commune — right at the start of Vietnam's National Day holiday. The festival is organised by Vien Nam Tourism & Sports JSC (Mebayluon Paragliding) in cooperation with the Tu Le Commune People's Committee. 👉 Want to fly during the festival? Prices, the best slots and how to reserve are in our guide to paragliding in Mu Cang Chai.
🇻🇳 Opening ceremony at 8am on 30 August 2026: the national flag above the golden season
The opening ceremony will take place on the morning of 30 August at paragliding landing zone with spectacular display flights. The highlight is a national flag flying display by powered paraglider — the red flag with a golden star soaring above the ripening terraces of the Lim Mong and Lim Thai valleys, a National Day scene you will find nowhere else. You can watch the whole programme from the landing field, or take a good seat at the Mebayluon Clubhouse cafe next door and enjoy a drink while gliders perform overhead.
🎯 Accuracy landing competition all day long
After the opening ceremony, the accuracy landing competition runs until the end of the day. Pilots launch from the top of Khau Pha Pass at 1,268m, steer their canopies across the valley and aim to touch down exactly on a target at the landing field — with accuracy measured in centimetres. It is the most spectator-friendly discipline in paragliding, as all the drama unfolds right in front of the audience. The landing field has a spacious car park where even 40-seat coaches can enter and turn around.
What is at the Khau Pha launch and landing sites?
🌾 Tandem flights over the finest golden season of the year
Throughout the festival and the National Day holiday you can book a tandem paragliding flight with a professional pilot and see the golden season of Khau Pha from the air. Rice around the flying site is planted about a month earlier than elsewhere, so late August is when these terraces are at their most vivid — earlier and denser than most other parts of Mu Cang Chai.
- Weekdays: 2,190,000 VND
- Weekends and public holidays: 2,590,000 VND
- Flight combos: 2,190,000 – 4,190,000 VND depending on combo and options
Prices include insurance, shuttle transfer and video. All flights can be refunded, cancelled or rescheduled free of charge. Note that the festival period is extremely busy, so book your flight several days in advance.
🌄 Powered paragliding: cloud hunting, 2,000m, sunrise and sunset
Alongside free flying, powered paragliding runs in parallel throughout the holiday — an experience offered only by Mebayluon in northern Vietnam. Special packages can be booked in advance:
- Cloud hunting — glide above a sea of morning cloud
- 2,000m altitude flight — take in the whole landscape
- Sunrise flight — the first light pouring into the valley
- Sunset flight — when the rice turns honey-gold in the evening light
Powered paragliding costs 2,390,000 to 2,690,000 VND depending on whether you fly on a weekday, a weekend or a public holiday. Sunrise, sunset and cloud-hunting slots depend on the daily weather, so early bookings get priority for the best times.
See prices and book powered paragliding
🍃 Prefer it quiet? Come on a weekday
Not everyone enjoys a crowded festival. If you would rather take in the golden season slowly and privately, choose a weekday:
- Lower paragliding prices — 2,190,000 VND instead of the 2,590,000 VND weekend and holiday rate
- Lower powered paragliding prices — 2,390,000 VND instead of the 2,690,000 VND weekend and holiday rate
- No queues — every service runs unhurried
- A quiet valley — the terraces are just as golden, only almost entirely yours
Paragliding at Khau Pha operates every day, not only during the festival. The golden season runs from mid August, so you have a wide window to pick a day that suits you.
🔥 More than flying: a complete holiday in Tu Le
The Khau Pha area is at its liveliest during this period. After your flight there is a whole list of experiences to fill the holiday:
- Golden season check-in spots along the pass roads
- Natural hot springs in Tu Le, 5km from the landing field
- Zipline at Le Champ Tu Le Resort, a 10-minute drive away
- Sturgeon and salmon at Huy Thanh restaurant on the pass
- Visit It Thai village: rice pounding and Black Thai indigo dyeing
- Order traditional set meals at Mebayluon Clubhouse
- Campfire and teambuilding at the landing field
- Mebayluon Clubhouse cafe — watch flying live all day
Mebayluon Clubhouse is a Thai-style stilt house right at the landing field, with a restaurant, cafe and guest rooms — you can stay in the very heart of the festival.
See rooms at Clubhouse Mebayluon
🍚 Coming earlier? The Com Festival and the Trail & Chill race
If you can arrive before the holiday, two more major events await in Tu Le:
- Tu Le Com Festival (21–23 Aug) — celebrating Tu Le green rice flakes, and the best time of year to buy fresh com, khau hang and Tu Le sticky rice
- Trail & Chill Golden Season race — 10km, 20km and 30km on what is regarded as the finest trail route in the Northwest
Information on Trail & Chill Golden Season 2026
🏃 Staying until October? Mucangchai Ultra Trail 2026
The golden season does not end with the holiday. In early October the region hosts its biggest sporting event of the year: Mucangchai Ultra Trail 2026, held on 2–3 October 2026 (Friday and Saturday) in Yen Bai.
This is the sixth edition, and a special one: the 2026 race is the Asia Trail Master Season 11 Championship Final — the first time the final of Asia's leading trail series has been held in Vietnam. Six distances are on offer: 12km, 25km, 55km, 75km, 100km and 160km, with the 75km as the championship race, starting at 5am on Saturday 3 October. The course runs through the Mu Cang Chai terraces and the mountain roads around Khau Pha.
Note: the 2025 edition was postponed because of storm damage and all entries were rolled over to 2026, so this year's field of runners and visitors is expected to be very large. If you plan to combine trail running with paragliding, book accommodation and flights early.
Information on Mu Cang Chai Ultra Trail 2026
🚗 Getting there and tips for the holiday
The Mu Cang Chai flying site (on top of Khau Pha Pass) is about 250km from Hanoi. Recommended route: the Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway, exit at IC14 (Mau A, km150), then via Nghia Lo on National Road 32 to Tu Le — currently the shortest route with the fewest passes. If you are not driving, there are morning, afternoon, evening and overnight coaches from Hanoi, plus direct services from Noi Bai airport passing the site.
- Book accommodation and flights as early as possible — the holiday coincides with the festival and homestays fill up fast
- Arrive at the landing field early on 30 August for a good spot at the opening ceremony
- If you would rather avoid crowds, shift your trip to a weekday
- Bring a light jacket: mornings and evenings on the pass are chilly even in late summer
The Hanoi to Mu Cang Chai route via IC14
Guide to transport to Mu Cang Chai
Standing in a valley of ripening rice on a clear morning, looking up at the national flag flying against the blue sky among dozens of colourful gliders — that is a golden-season flying moment that comes only once a year. See you at the Khau Pha landing field on the morning of 30 August 2026!
