The organising board of the Tran Temple Seal Opening Festival said the event will run from February 27 to March 4, corresponding to the 11th to the 16th days of the first lunar month.
Key rites include the Ngoc Lo palanquin procession on the 11th day, followed by a water procession and a fish sacrifice ritual on the 12th day.
On the evening of the 14th day, visitors without official duties will be asked to leave the inner compound between 9 pm and 9.30 pm to allow preparations for incense offerings, a seal palanquin procession and the seal-opening ritual, scheduled to begin at 11.15 pm. Thien Truong Temple will be temporarily closed during the ceremony to ensure solemnity.
Seal distribution will begin at 2 am on the 15th day at three locations: Giai Vu House, the Exhibition House and Trung Hoa Temple. Organisers said zigzag queues would be set up to prevent crowding and pushing.
Nguyen Duc Binh, head of the local heritage management board, said the seals would be handed out earlier than in previous years after the site was expanded and security plans upgraded.
Held annually on the night of the 14th and into the morning of the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Tran Temple Seal Opening Festival is a longstanding ritual linked to the Tran dynasty’s ancestral complex. It symbolises prayers for national peace, prosperity and good fortune in the year ahead.
