Phu Tho (VNA) - After years of refinement, the annual Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day and Hung Kings Temple Festival have solidified its status as a flagship national event, blending solemn, reverent, and exemplary ceremonial rites with vibrant, engaging festivities that capture the rich essence of Vietnam’s ancestral heritage.
Following the merger of Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, and Hoa Binh provinces into the new Phu Tho province last year, the Hung Kings Temple Festival has taken on heightened significance. It now serves not only as a tribute to the ancestral homeland but also a unified cultural platform that extends sacred ancestral values to Vietnamese communities at home and abroad.
To address growing public demand and better accommodate pilgrims and visitors, provincial departments and agencies have moved swiftly to finalise detailed plans for the Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day, the Hung Kings Temple Festival, and the Ancestral Land Culture and Tourism Week 2026.
The ceremonial segment will unfold with solemnity and reverence, featuring traditional rituals such as incense offerings to the Hung Kings; ceremonies honouring Lac Long Quan, the legendary national father; tributes to ancestral mother Au Co; a floral tribute at the bas-relief depicting President Ho Chi Minh with Vanguard Division officers and soldiers, incense offerings by 148 communes and wards, and simultaneous ceremonies on the 10th day of the third lunar month at Hung Kings-related relic sites nationwide.
A key highlight this year is the continued push for every Vietnamese family to prepare a commemorative offering tray on the occasion of the Hung Kings’ death anniversary.
The festive part will be staged on an expanded scale, reflecting the integration of the newly merged province. It creates a dynamic, multi-coloured cultural space that weaves together distinctive cultural values within a single festival setting, contributing to preserving heritage while fostering exchanges, mutual learning, and deeper community bonds. The format follows broader regional tourism trend and capitalises on the area’s rich cultural and historical assets.
Activities during the Ancestral Land Culture and Tourism Week will vividly recreate the spiritual practices and creative labour of earlier generations. Highlights will include bronze drum performances, Xoan and Soong Co singing performances, Muong folk songs, street festivals, cultural camps of 18 commune and ward clusters, competitions for making traditional banh chung (square glutinous rice cakes) and banh day (pounding round sticky rice cakes), demonstrations of ancient crafts, and folk sports such as boat racing, crossbow shooting, and traditional wrestling.
Infrastructure, environmental landscaping, security, and traffic management preparations have been made early by relevant agencies to prevent congestion and guarantee absolute safety for both domestic and foreign visitors.
Construction and renovation projects at the temple complex have been accelerated and completed on schedule. These include the inauguration of the restored communal guest house, the new stairway to Au Co Temple, renovation of Cay Khe Lake, upgrades to transportation routes, refurbishment of public sanitation facilities, improvements to lighting, greenery, environmental landscaping, and tourism support services.
With meticulous planning and strong community involvement, the Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day and Hung Kings Temple Festival 2026 are set to reaffirm their role as a sacred focal point for the Vietnamese people, honouring the foundational legacy of the Hung Kings while reinforcing national unity, bridging cultural regions, and driving sustainable, identity-driven development in the new era./.
