Hai Phong (VNA) – National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man on October 12 night attended a ceremony marking the 725th death anniversary of national hero Tran Hung Dao and beat the drum to open the 2025 Con Son–Kiep Bac autumn festival at the Kiep Bac relic site in Tran Hung Dao ward in the northern port city of Hai Phong.
Delivering a memorial speech, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Ngoc Chau, who is also head of the festival organising committee, recalled that 725 years ago, Hung Dao Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan passed away in Van Kiep. He was a national hero and a brilliant military strategist, renowned for his wisdom and courage, who led the Dai Viet army and people to three victories against Mongol invaders.
Chau noted that this year’s festival, running from October 1, is the largest ever held. The celebration’s space has been expanded, featuring a full range of ceremonial rituals that recreate the region’s distinctive historical and cultural values. The festive part includes a wide variety of cultural, tourism, culinary, and traditional craft experiences.
A highlight of the event is a culture-tourism-trade promotion week, designed to showcase goods made under the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) programme, traditional craft villages, and unique local cuisines, as well as introduce new tourism routes.
In July 2025, at its 47th session, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee officially accredited the Con Son–Kiep Bac relic and scenic complex, together with Yen Tu–Vinh Nghiem, as a World Cultural Heritage Site. Hai Phong is home to five recognised heritage destinations within this complex.
Chau expressed his hope that investors would bring dedication and creativity to preserve and enhance the value of the heritage area. He also called on tourism associations, travel and transport companies, and service providers to design new, distinctive tours connecting historical sites, craft villages, and local culinary and OCOP products.
The official added that every resident in the heritage region should act as a “cultural ambassador,” promoting service quality, advancing digital transformation, developing signature local products, fostering regional linkages, and practicing green tourism, thereby helping to make Hai Phong a must-visit destination for every traveller’s journey./.
