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| Ritual held to commemorate Father Lac Long Quan (Photo: VNA) |
Legend has it that Lac Long Quan (real name Sung Lam, son of Kinh Duong Vuong and Than Long Nu) married Au Co (the fairy daughter of De Lai). Au Co then went on to give birth to a pouch filled with one hundred eggs, which hatched into a hundred sons. However, soon thereafter, Lac Long Quan and Au Co separated. Lac Long Quan went to the coast with 50 of the children, while Au Co went to the highlands with the rest.
Their eldest son was made king, who named the country Van Lang and set up the capital in Phong Chau (modern-day Viet Tri city in Phu Tho province), beginning the 18 reigns of the Hung Kings.
The kings chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals devoted to rice and sun deities to pray for bumper crops.
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A ceremony was held in Phu Tho Province to commemorate Father Lac Long Quan
and Mother Au Co (Photo: VNA) |
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 Hung Kings.
The worship of the Hung Kings, closely related to the ancestral worship traditions of most Vietnamese families, was recognised as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2012.
This year, the Hung Kings Temple Festival is being held in the northern midland province from April 9 to 18 (or the 1st to the 10th day of the third lunar month), along with the Culture and Tourism Week of the Ancestral Land.
First HCM City International Film Festival closes, winners named
The first Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival (HIFF 2024) wrapped up on April 13 evening, with the HIFF Southeast Asia Award, the highest title, given to “The gospel of the Beast” of the Philippines, according to the Vietnam News Agency.
Winners of the Best First or Second Film Category were “City of Wind” of France and “Night Courier” of Saudi Arabia.
Sweden’s “Leila” received the ‘Best Short Film’ award, while the two films voted by the jury were “Last Shadow at First Light” co-produced by Singapore, Japan and Slovenia, and Alien0089 which Chile and Argentina cooperated in production.
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| HIFF Southeast Asia Award, the highest title, given to “The gospel of the Beast” of the Philippines (Photo: VNA) |
In the non-official competition category, the film Song Lang received the ‘Excellent Film about Ho Chi Minh City’ award.
In addition, the organising board also presented a number of individual awards namely Best Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Design, Effects, and Soundtrack.
The HIFF 2024 attracted more than 300 works and projects in all genres from 29 countries and territories.
Hanoi promotes experiential tourism linked to heritage, trade villages
Hanoi, home to a large number of cultural and historical sites and craft villages, is taking measures to develop experiential tourism to attract more visitors to the over-1,000-year-old capital, the Vietnam News Agency reported.
The city boasts 5,922 relic sites, 1,793 intangible heritage items, and 1,350 craft villages, along with beautiful natural landscapes.
The capital's tourism sector sees cultural tourism as a major product, accordingly it is joining hands with travel agencies and organisations to promote experiential tourism in connection with heritage sites and handicraft villages.
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| Foreign visitors are excited to experience rice planting in Hanoi's Duong Lam ancient village. (Photo: VNA) |
Currently, the number of tourists coming to Hanoi, especially foreign travellers, is soaring. This is a positive sign for the non-smoke industry to implement solutions to attract visitors and boost tourism growth, in which the development of new tourism products with Hanoi’s characteristics has received due attention.
Hanoi has built and launched numerous products, including a piloted model of community-based tourism combined with real-life experiences in craft villages and tourist attractions with traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities in Ba Vi district.
In February, the municipal Tourism Department launched experiential tourism products associated with heritage and relic sites, and craft villages following the routes: Downtown Hanoi - Thanh Tri - Thuong Tin - Phu Xuyen, downtown Hanoi - Thanh Oai - Ung Hoa - My Duc, and downtown Hanoi - Son Tay - Ba Vi.
At present, it is continuing to develop a community-based tourism model linked to hands-on experiences in craft villages and tourist destinations with traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities in other districts such as My Duc and Chuong My.
However, experts say that for these products to become attractive and unique, uniform actions are needed.
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A foreign tourist is excited to experience being a farmer in Duong Lam ancient village
(Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn) |
First of all, it is important to clearly understand visitors to each locality, their needs and desires, thereby offer appropriate experiential products.
Hanoi needs to develop unique tours that involve exploring history or experiencing the rich local cultures and production stages of typical handicrafts and cuisine.
In addition, visitors should be able to interact with locals, craftsmen, and famous people in the villages, as well as learn about traditional crafts and local festivals. In terms of developing tourist routes, it is advisable to create a more diverse service supply chain./.