A wide range of
activities will take place as from April 7 (the fifth day of the third lunar
month) in the northern province
of Phu Tho to commemorate the death anniversary of Hung Kings and celebrate the
Hung Kings Temple Festival in 2011.

The activities will be jointly held by Phu Tho and five
other provinces, namely Tuyen Quang, Hoa
Binh, Nam
Dinh, Quang Ngai and Dong Thap.

Incense offering ceremonies to the first rulers of Vietnam –
the Hung kings and the legendary ancestors of the nation will be held on April
7, 8 and 12 with the main ceremony to be hosted by Phu Tho on April 12 (the
10th day of the third lunar month).

The festival that will last from April 8-12 will include a
lion dance, a Xoan singing (ancestor worship singing) festival, an exhibition
of offerings to the Hung Kings and a contest on making the traditional “banh
chung” (square glutinous rice cake) and “banh day” (rice cake).

Phu Tho province will also host an international seminar on
“The worship of Hung Kings” as part of efforts to bid for UNESCO’s recognition
of as an intangible cultural heritage.

Legend has it that Lac Long Quan, who was a dragon, met and
married fairy Au Co, who later gave birth to 100 eggs from which 100 children
sprang forth. The couple then parted due to their different origins. The man
went seawards with 50 of their children, while his wife went to the mountains
with the other half of the clan. The eldest son, who followed his father, later
installed himself as Vietnam’s
first Hung King and today’s Vietnamese people are said to be descendants of
those children.

Source: Tuoi Tre