According to the provincial people's committee, only the part of commemoration of the festival will be organised, including the incense offering ceremony - the most important ritual dedicated to the legendary founders of the nation.
Visitors to Hung Kings Festival (photo by Trung Kien, Vietnam News Agency)
Meanwhile, other activities such as folk games, traditional music performances, and sports competitions will be cancelled.
The Hung Kings Temple Festival 2020 was scheduled to be held on a national scale at the Hung Kings Temple historical relic site located in Viet Tri City.
To mark the event, other festivities were planned to be co-organised by Phu Tho Province and other participating localities such as Vinh Phuc, Ninh Binh and Thua Thien - Hue provinces.
This year's Hung Kings Festivals falls on April 2.
Legend has it that Lac Long Quan married Au Co who later gave birth to a pouch filled with one hundred eggs, which soon hatched into a hundred sons, believed to be the ancestors of the Vietnamese nation. Their eldest son was made king, who named the country Van Lang and set up the capital in Phong Chau (nowadays Viet Tri City, Phu Tho Province), beginning the dynasty of the 18 Hung Kings.
To honour their great contributions, a complex of temples dedicated to them was built on Nghia Linh Mountain and the 10th day of the third lunar month serves as the national commemorative anniversary for the kings.