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🎉 festival

Hung Kings Festival

Sunday, April 26, 2026

— days to go

The Hung Kings Festival, also known as Hung Kings' Commemoration Day or Hung Vuong Festival, is a major Vietnamese festival honoring the Hung Kings, the legendary founders of the Vietnamese nation. According to tradition, the Hung Kings established Van Lang, the first Vietnamese state, in 2879 BCE and ruled for eighteen dynasties. The festival takes place annually on the 10th day of the third lunar month at the Hung Temple complex on Nghia Linh Mountain in Phu Tho Province. It is one of the most important cultural and spiritual events in Vietnam, recognized by UNESCO as part of the world's intangible cultural heritage. The observance serves as a profound expression of Vietnamese ancestral worship and national identity, with millions of people making pilgrimages to pay tribute to their legendary founding fathers.

History

The Hung Kings Festival has ancient origins dating back over 4,000 years to the Hung Kings era, considered the dawn of Vietnamese civilization. According to Vietnamese mythology, the first Hung King, Lac Long Quan, married Au Co, a fairy, and their hundred sons became the ancestors of the Vietnamese people. The eldest son established the Hung dynasty and ruled Van Lang from Phong Chau. The festival traditions were formalized over centuries, with Emperor Dinh Tien Hoang in the 10th century first officially recognizing the Hung Kings' temple worship. In 1917, the Nguyen Dynasty codified the annual commemoration, and in 2007, the Vietnamese government declared the 10th day of the third lunar month a national public holiday to honor the Hung Kings.

How It's Celebrated

The festival centers around the Hung Temple complex where elaborate ceremonies include incense offerings, processions, traditional music and dance performances, and the reading of eulogies. Participants dress in traditional Vietnamese attire and carry palanquins with offerings of rice cakes, sticky rice, and flowers to the temple altars. Folk games such as rice cooking competitions, human chess, dragon dancing, and wrestling are held throughout the festivities. The iconic dishes banh chung (square sticky rice cake) and banh day (round glutinous rice cake) are prepared as offerings symbolizing the earth and sky. Millions of pilgrims from across Vietnam travel to Phu Tho each year to participate in this deeply spiritual national celebration.

Other Years

2021 Mon
26 Apr
2022 Tue
26 Apr
2023 Wed
26 Apr
2024 Fri
4/26
2025 Sat
4/26
2027 Mon
4/26
2028 Wed
4/26
2029 Thu
26 Apr

Countries

🇻🇳 VN

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