Ninh Binh to scale down Hoa Lu Festival this year due to COVID-19

The festival will be organised on a smaller scale but its respectful spirit will still be maintained to ensure the safety of both local residents and visitors.

Instead of holding the festival's opening ceremony as usual, the organisers will cancel its opening ceremony and all other festivities.

Only some traditional rituals will be organised by the People's Committee of Hoa Lu district and the provincial Department of Culture and Sports, such as the temple-opening ceremony, water procession, the ceremony of Buddha bathing and the thanksgiving ceremony.

The Department of Culture and Sports will preside over the incense offering ceremony.

The annual festival is one of the 100 national intangible cultural heritages. Together with the ancient capital of Hoa Lu, the Hoa Lu Festival is an important part of the World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site of Trang An scenic complex. It aims to commemorate the national heroes Le Dai Hanh and King Dinh Tien Hoang who built and protected the country.

Over the past years, the traditional festival has had almost all of its traditional rituals restored, honouring the cultural values of the Dinh-Le (Early Le) dynasty (968-1010).

Taking place from the 9th to the 11th day of the third lunar month, which falls on April 20-22 this year, the Hoa Lu Festival attracts thousands of local residents and visitors.

Translated by Nguyen Thuy