Festival honours founders of Vietnamese nation
VOV.VN - A festival to commemorate the death of Hung Kings believed to be the founders of the Vietnamese nation was inaugurated in Viet Tri city, Phu Tho province, on April 21 evening.
The annual festival is to highlight the values of two provincial cultural heritages that have been recognised by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, namely the worship of Hung Kings and Xoan folk singing.
Besides traditional rituals like incense offering and the palanquin procession, the Hung Kings Temple Festival and the Culture and Tourism Week of Ancestral Land 2023 will include performances of intangible cultural heritages of Vietnam honoured by UNESCO, and the celebration of 20 years of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Christian Manhart, head of the UNESCO Representative Office in Vietnam, confirmed that Vietnam is one of the most active members of UNESCO, and it is willing to share its success stories with other countries in the cultural field.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha noted that preserving, building, and developing the national cultural value system is of great significance.
Boasting 15 intangible heritages recognised by UNESCO, Vietnam is exceptionally rich in unique community cultural resources in the world, he stressed.
The 90-minute opening ceremony featured art performances put on by hundreds professional and amateur artists.
Hung Kings Temple is located on Nghia Linh Mountain in Phong Chau district of Phu Tho province, roughly 100km northwest of Hanoi. It is a complex featuring ancient tombs, monuments, and temples.
The death anniversary of the Hung Kings is commemorated on the 10th day of the third lunar month, which falls on April 29 this year, and is a national holiday.
The 10-day festival consists of a wide range of activities including an incense offering ceremony dedicated to Lac Long Quan and Au Co, the progenitors of Vietnam, and a flower offering at the President Ho Chi Minh Monument.
Other activities include an international conference on Vietnamese tourism, culture, heritages and sustainable development, a swimming and stand-up paddle board competition, the northwest tourism fair 2023, and football and volleyball tournaments.
