Phu Tho (VNA) – The northern province of PhuTho has finished preparation for the Hung Kings Temple Festival, one of thebiggest festival of the year, which will take place from April 21-25, or the 6th-10th day of the third lunar month, said a provincial official.

According to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’sCommittee Ha Ke San, who is also leader of the organising committee, thefestival will be hosted by Phu Tho at the Hung Temple Complex in Viet Tri cityand surrounding communes while four other provinces including Thai Nguyen,Quang Nam, Binh Duong and Kien Giang will support its organisation.

This year, the province will continue making efforts to popolarise Xoan singingand Hung Kings worshipping rituals, which were recognised by UNESCO asintangible cultural heritage of humanity, he noted.

To prepare for the event, the organising committee hasbeen set up with sub-committees and inter-sector inspection teams responsiblefor monitoring and examining the preparation and businesses in the festival’sareas, he said.

Holy places and stairs leading to the Hung Temple Complex have been repairedand renovated while tour guides will be arranged to instruct tourists how topractice rituals, according to the complex’s director Nguyen Duy Anh. Thecomplex’s management board will work to ensure visitors’ safety, he added.

A series of exciting festive activities will be heldduring the five-day festival, including a book fair, “chung” (square cake)making contest, exhibition, cultural camp, art performances and particularlyXoan singing.

The annual festival takes place on the death anniversaryof the Hung Kings, founders of the nation, to pay tribute to the Vietnameseancestors.

Vietnamese legend has it that Lac Long Quan, son of KinhDuong Vuong, married Au Co, daughter of King De Lai. Au Co gave birth to a sackcontaining 100 eggs from which 100 children were born.
 
The couple then decided to separate to populate the land, so half of thechildren followed their mother to the highlands and the rest went with theirfather to the sea.

The first child went with mother Au Co to Phong Chau, now Phu Tho province. Hethen became King Hung and founded the first nation in the history of Vietnam,Van Lang.          
Ruling the country for 18 generations, the Hung Kings taught the people how togrow wet rice. They chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, toperform rituals devoted to rice and sun deities to pray for lush crops.

To honour the Hung Kings, a complex of temples dedicated to them was built onNghia Linh Mountain, and the tenth day of the third lunar month serves as theiranniversary.

The worshipping rituals of the Hung Kings are closely related to the ancestralworship traditions of most Vietnamese families, an important part of people’sspiritual lives.

The worshipping ritual of the Hung Kings was recognised as UNESCO IntangibleCultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012.-VNA