The 2013 Phu Day festival got underway in Vu Ban district, nothern Nam Dinh province on April 12 to give tourists an insight into this annual event.

The highlights of the five-day festival are the traditional ceremonies, including the procession of Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh (one of four immortals in Vietnamese folklore), a torchlight procession and a flower competition.

A wide range of cultural activities and traditional games such as wrestling, lion dancing and human chess will also take place.

The ‘Hat van’ contest will be held at Van Cat and Tien Huong temples to promote this special art form, which has been recognised a national intangible cultural heritage, to domestic and international tourists.

The festival opens a series of activities in response to National Tourism Year in the Red River Delta.-VNA