Hùng King festival to mark anniversary
VGP - The Hùng Temple festival will take place on April 7 to commemorate the Hùng Kings in the northern province of Phú Thọ.
The main ceremony, to be held on April 12 (March 10 of the Lunar Year) will include incense-offering ceremonies to Âu Cơ-Lạc Long Quân, the ancestors of the Vietnamese and Hùng Kings.
This will take place at the Hùng Temple on Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain in Phong Châu District, 85km northwest of Hà Nội
The Hùng Temple Festival is one of the most important and sacred festivals of the Vietnamese people and is deeply imbedded in the minds of every Vietnamese citizen, regardless of their what province they come from.
Diverse activities will take place, such as a palanquin procession from surrounding villages to the Hùng King Temple, lion dances, beating bronze drums, and cooking bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake) and banh day (round sticky rice cake).
Apart from the host province of Phú Thọ, the festival will attract the participation of the provinces of Tuyên Quang, Hòa Bình, Nam Định, Quảng Ngãi and Đồng Tháp.
The Việt Nam Heritage Association will present 18 bronze drums to the historical site of Hùng King Temple, said Nguyễn Tiến Khôi, the Director of the site and Deputy-head of the festival organization board.
Phú Thọ Province will also hold a seminar on worshipping the Hùng Kings, with the participation of about 40 Vietnamese and foreign scientists.
The seminar is aimed at completing a submission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proposing the recognition of the Hùng King Festival as a world intangible cultural heritage. - VNS
