According to festival organisers, this year’s Hung Kings festival is being held on a larger scale and lasts for 10 days, from April 17 to 26, featuring more than 25 cultural, sports and tourism programmes.
On April 25, which falls on the ninth day of the third lunar month, large crowds gathered at the Hung Temple complex in Phu Tho Province to offer incense and join the celebrations.
Long lines of visitors filled the path leading up Nghia Linh Mountain, where the complex of temples and pagodas dedicated to the Hung Kings is located.
Popular worship sites including Ha Temple, Trung Temple, Thuong Temple and Ngoc Well were packed with pilgrims and tourists throughout the day.
Many visitors were unable to move closer to the main sanctuary and instead stood in the temple courtyard, joining their hands in prayer from a distance.
Along the grassy areas at the foot of Nghia Linh Mountain, vendors also offered mat and tarpaulin rentals to meet the growing demand from visitors looking for a place to rest.
Au Vuong, 63, from the Cao Lan ethnic group in Tuyen Quang Province, said she and neighbours make the journey to Hung Temple every year during the holiday.
“It has become a long-standing tradition for us. From 5 am, everyone in the village wakes up to prepare sticky rice, chicken, pork sausage and other food to bring along,” she said.
“Our whole group wears traditional Cao Lan clothing, outfits that we only use for important occasions, to show respect when returning to the ancestral land.”
Vang Thi Sen, 55, travelled more than 120km with a group of seven people from Ham Yen District in Tuyen Quang Province.
“It is my first time here. The atmosphere feels both sacred and lively. The crowds were so large that sometimes I had to stand far away to offer incense, but I could still clearly feel the solemnity and meaning of the trip,” she said.
By about 5.30 pm, the flow of worshippers and tourists heading to Hung Temple remained heavy.
