This year's Hung Kings Anniversary and the 2024 Phu Tho Culture and Tourism Week will be held for 10 days until April 18 or the 10th day of the third lunar month at the Hung Kings Temple National Historic Site in Phong Chau Commune, Viet Tri City and other localities in Vietnam's Northern province of Phu Tho.

The Hung Kings Commemoration Day aims to honor the great merits of the Hung Kings, the legendary founders of Van Lang - the first state in Vietnam. Photo: Bao Dan toc

The celebration is held annually to commemorate the Hung Kings, the founders of the country, and also to remind Vietnamese at home and abroad of the importance of solidarity and unity.

This year's Hung Kings Anniversary is divided into two parts, the worship rituals and the celebration.

The worship rituals include a ceremony commemorating the death anniversary of Great Father Lac Long Quan and Great Mother Au Co to be held at the Hung Kings Temple National Historic Site on April 14; the Hung Kings Incense Offering Ceremony to be held at the same site on April 18; and other incense offering ceremonies commemorating the Hung Kings to be held at various places in Phu Tho Province until April 18.

The celebration, part of the event "Phu Tho Culture Tourism Week 2024", according to Director of Phu Tho Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Dac Thuy, will include many unique cultural activities to promote the tourism potential of Phu Tho Province.

The Hung Kings Temple National Historic Site will hold a traditional cake-making contest of Banh Chung (square glutinous rice cake) and Banh Day (round glutinous rice cake) to worship the Hung Kings on April 16; an art exhibition of Phu Tho landscapes and people will be held through April 18.

The contest of making traditional Chung cakes (square glutinous rice cakes) and Day cakes (round glutinous rice cakes) to worship the Hung Kings. Photo: Huy Pham/The Hanoi Times

In addition, the street music program "Viet Tri Live Music" and night cultural activities will continue until April 17 at Van Lang Park in Viet Tri City.

From April 13 to 17, the Hung Kings Temple National Historic Site will host folk performance programs including bell dance, Khen dance, gong performance, and Phu Tho Xoan singing performance - a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Furthermore, the OCOP products fair in Phu Tho Province will be held from April 12 to 18 at Hung Vuong Square in Viet Tri City.

In particular, an art performance and aerial fireworks display will be staged at Van Lang Lake on the evening of April 17.

Celebrated in the third month of the lunar calendar, Hung Kings Anniversary is one of the most important holidays in Vietnam to commemorate and pay tribute to the Hung Kings, the legendary founding fathers and first rulers of the nation. The anniversary, which falls on the tenth day of the third month of the lunar calendar, began as a local holiday but has been recognized as a national holiday since 2007.

Visitors to the Hung Kings Anniversary Festival in 2023. Photo: To Quoc Newspaper

Hung Kings is the title given to the ancient Vietnamese rulers of the Hong Bang period (2879-258 BC).

Legend has it that the eldest son of Lac Long Quan and Au Co was made king. He named the country Van Lang and established the capital at Phong Chau (now Viet Tri City), thus beginning the 18 reigns of the Hung Kings. The kings chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals dedicated to the rice and sun deities to pray for healthy crops.

To honor their great merits, a complex of temples dedicated to the kings was built on Nghia Linh Mountain, and the tenth day of the third lunar month serves as the national commemoration day for the kings.

According to local historians, the time of the Hung Kings was an important period in Vietnamese history. It laid the foundation for Vietnamese culture and nationalism. Vietnamese people believe that they were all born from the same mother Au Co's magic egg. All Vietnamese people are descended from a common ancestor. The Hung King worship ritual was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity List in December 2012.

Phu Tho Province is expected to welcome one million visitors on the occasion.