To show gratitude to Hung Kings, the founders of the country, and appreciation of the tradition of Vietnamese families, the Dam Sen Park will organize a ceremony to commemorate the Kings and a festival on Vietnamese families next week.

One hundred martial art instructors will perform Nam Huynh Dao martial art at the Hung Kings commemoration ceremony at the Dam Sen Park in District 11, HCMC - Photo: Courtesy of Saigontourist

The commemoration and festival are being held by District 11’s Fatherland Front Committee, the Institute for Family History, Phutho Tourist Service JSC and Saigon IP Corp.

The Hung Kings commemoration ceremony will take place from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on April 24 and 25, 2018 (the 9th and 10th of the third lunar month) while the families festival will be held on April 24.

The holy flame will be re-laid from the Hung Kings Temple in Long Binh Ward, District 9 to the Hung Kings altar in Dam Sen, an entertainment and cultural venue in District 11. The relay will start from 6 a.m. on April 24 while the commemoration ritual will start from 9 a.m. on April 25 at Ngoi Sao (Star) stage with traditional activities like a funeral oration and Nam Huynh Dao martial art performance.

Visitors will have the opportunity to see the Hung Kings altar and other ancestry altars organized by the Families Committee of HCMC. Besides, they will be shown how to arrange an ancestry altar properly.

The event will also include a photo exhibition of temples, royal tombs and family altars, and an exhibition of 599 family annals conducted by the HCM City Family Annals Research Center in more than 20 years, and a number of seminars on the culture and history of Vietnamese families with the participation of researchers.

Another highlight of the festival is the banh chung (square-shaped glutinous rice cake) contest. Contestants comprise citizens of District 11 and employees of Phutho Tourist. Each team will make 50 banh chung, arrange them on a tray and explain the meaning of their products.

On this occasion, Dam Sen will give 5,000 banh chung to visitors and children at shelters for the homeless in the city. There will also be traditional food stalls, rural markets and folk games organized during the festival.

Dam Sen has issued 40,000 invitation tickets which allow holders to enter the park at no charge and enjoy a discount of 50% on full packages until May 1, 2018.

Saigon Times