Phu Tho (VNA)𒊎 – Things are ready for the Hung Kings Temple Festival - one of the country’s largest annual cultural and religious events to commemorate the legendary national founders, said Vice Director of Phu Tho province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Vu Thi Hoai Phuong.

The festival will be held in the northern province of Phu Tho from April 9 -18 (or the first to the tenth days of the third lunar month) – the longest of its kind so far – with activities to be organised on a larger scale than in previous versions, the official noted.  This year, the festival and an associated culture and tourism programme are set to take place in Viet Tri city – which houses the renowned temple – as well as various other districts and towns across the province. Main rituals during the festival include ceremonies at the temple to offer incense to Lac Long Quan and Au Co – the progenitors of the Vietnamese people. During the 10-day festival, performance events, folk art and a series of night art programmes will be held to attract visitors to the province on the Hung Kings Commemoration Day and the Ancestral Land Culture and Tourism Week. A series of festive activities will be also organised in communes and areas surrounding the Hung Kings Temple, including Hung Lo ancient communal house and Bach Hac-Ben Got tourist area. Phuong said that the province will re-start the Hung King Temple night tour on the occasion of the Hung Kings Commemoration Day this year. The night tour is expected to be the highlight of local tourism in the coming time. Preparing for the Hung Kings Commemoration Day - Hung Kings Temple Festival, the provincial People's Committee asked departments and agencies to organise a safe, friendly, and impressive festival. The province has tightened control of social order and security, transport, food safety and urban look. Accommodation establishments were asked to improve service quality and make preparations to serve guests as good as possible as it is expected that millions of people will flock to the province on this occasion. Regarding the preservation and promotion of the values of tangible and intangible cultural heritage associated with tourism development, Phuong said that the province identifies cultural tourism as one of its typical tourism types, particularly tourism activities that are associated with the Hung Kings era. For example, when visiting Hung Lo ancient village, tourists can enjoy Xoan singing - a kind of performing art, attached to the worship of the Hung Kings and performed by farmers growing wet rice in midland areas. Moreover, tourists can explore ancient houses in the village, and join in making “bank chung” (square glutinous rice cake) – a traditional offering to the Hung Kings. On the outskirts of the Hung Kings Temple historical relic site, the Bach Hac-Ben Got cultural and historical relic site is associated with the legend of water procession at the confluence of rivers. The Hung Lo Communal House and Bach Hac-Ben Got are recognised as provincial-level cultural tourist sites and have become popular tourist attractions in the province./.