Hoa Lu Festival - honoring national pride and the spirit of great solidarity

Hoa Lu Festival, Ninh Binh Province is a traditional festival held annually in the third lunar month to commemorate and express gratitude for the great contributions of the ancestors in the cause of building and defending the country; to arouse the tradition of patriotism, national pride and the spirit of great solidarity among Vietnamese ethnic groups.

Over 1,057 years, Hoa Lu Festival not only retains its outstanding historical and cultural values ​​but also creates a premise for developing Ninh Binh tourism, deserving to be one of Vietnam's intangible cultural heritages.

Preserve and promote good values

According to the elders of Truong Yen commune, Hoa Lu city, the ancient Hoa Lu traditional festival was also known as Truong Yen festival or Lau flag festival.

According to old history, during feudal dynasties, Truong Yen festival was a national festival because it was an occasion to commemorate the Emperors and national heroes: Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh.

During the festival days, although there were times when the weather was unfavorable, affecting some activities of the festival, the atmosphere at the festival was still very joyful and exciting, attracting many people and tourists to participate.

As children of Ninh Binh, everyone is proud of the cultural and historical traditions of their ancestors. That tradition is preserved and gathered in the activities of Hoa Lu Festival, from the martial arts tradition through the echoes of the drums of the wrestling festival; the tradition of loving learning and poetry through the Calligraphy Competition; the love of literature and arts through the art exchanges of Cheo singing, Van singing, Xam singing...

Festivals are places to display the cultural identity of localities and also to preserve the essence of many traditional cultural values.

Mr. Hoang Van Hieu, Kim Son district, Ninh Binh province, shared that he has participated in the district's drum and dance festival for many years, but every time he returns to Hoa Lu Festival to perform with other teams, he still feels excited and proud.

The festival is not only a place for the people of the ancient capital to introduce the cultural beauty of the locality but also an opportunity to spread those values ​​to the younger generation and international tourists.

It is the unique features in the ritual and festival parts of Hoa Lu Festival that create the cultural identity that makes the festival different and attractive compared to many other festivals.

Returning to Ninh Binh, directly opening the Hoa Lu Festival in 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long affirmed that this is a land imbued with the historical and cultural values ​​of the nation with the center being the famous Hoa Lu city, where the hero Dinh Bo Linh ascended the throne and established the capital of Dai Co Viet - the first centralized feudal state of Vietnam, starting the feudal dynasties in the history of the nation.

A pair of Dragons lead a procession carrying water into the temple yard of King Dinh Tien Hoang. (Photo: Duc Phuong/VNA)

In the coming time, Ninh Binh needs to continue to research, deepen and focus on disseminating and raising awareness, especially for the younger generation, about the historical and cultural values ​​of the ancient capital Hoa Lu and Dai Co Viet State.

In particular, the province strengthens the preservation, exploitation and promotion of the value of festivals; promotes investment in infrastructure, preserves the sacred spiritual space of the festival; has training programs, widely disseminates knowledge about history, culture, beliefs, customs and practices, especially the human resources serving the festival; closely links the activities of preserving and promoting festivals with tourism activities at the historical-cultural relic site of the ancient capital Hoa Lu.

Exploiting festivals to develop tourism

As an ancient land rich in cultural traditions, Ninh Binh attracts tourists not only by the beauty of many famous landscapes and landscapes but also by festivals with deep historical values, including Hoa Lu Festival.

This is an important resource for the province to exploit to serve sustainable tourism development. In recent years, Ninh Binh has almost completely restored the rituals of the ancestors, simulating and honoring the cultural values ​​of the Dinh-Le period, along with many cultural, artistic and sports activities imbued with traditional cultural identity, creating a sacred, bustling and culturally diverse atmosphere.

In addition to the activities organized according to tradition, this year, Hoa Lu Festival is organized with many new events and activities such as: Scientific seminar on the life and career of Mrs. Pham Thi Tran - Founder of Vietnamese theater; Scientific seminar and exhibition "Costume and ancient costumes of Dinh Dynasty"; activities to promote Ninh Binh tourism through the Festival of propaganda teams; organizing exhibition space, introducing history, culture, handicraft products, OCOP products, typical goods and services of districts and cities... attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists.

Water procession to pray for peace at Hoa Lu Traditional Festival. (Photo: Minh Duc/VNA)

Mr. Bui Van Manh, Director of Ninh Binh Provincial Department of Tourism, said that in the first 3 months of 2025, the whole province welcomed over 4.4 million visitors, including 535 thousand international visitors, up 13.4% and 40.8% respectively over the same period in 2024.

Tourism revenue reached nearly VND4.7 trillion, up 29.3%. During the recent holiday, which coincided with the Hoa Lu Festival, the province welcomed more than 164,270 visitors, including 52,700 international visitors. Tourism revenue is estimated at VND300 billion.

The boom in visitors not only brings direct revenue to the tourism industry but is also expected to create a "golden season" for local people. This positive result is the driving force for Ninh Binh to aim for the goal of welcoming over 9.1 million visitors and revenue of over 10 trillion VND in 2025.

Besides, promoting the role of the people in organizing and implementing festivals has created a unique identity for Ninh Binh tourism.

Tours linking destinations with cultural tourism and festivals are increasingly exploited effectively. This is considered the province's strength in the orientation of sustainable tourism development based on existing cultural heritages.

According to historian Duong Trung Quoc, festivals are the most sustainable and long-term way to preserve culture. Ninh Binh should focus on attracting people to participate in these activities.

Besides the efforts of the State and enterprises, it is necessary to change people's mindset, to make people feel that this is a part of life that not only brings benefits to themselves but also benefits that are passed on to future generations.

Water is brought to the relic site from the Hoang Long River. (Photo: Duc Phuong/VNA)

Mr. Pham Quang Ngoc, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ninh Binh province affirmed that over 1,000 years have passed, the ancient capital of Hoa Lu has become a place to preserve the original values ​​in the journey of national revival, the source of the formation of the capital Thang Long and the brilliant development of feudal institutions in the following periods.

The unique values, potentials, strengths of culture, history and natural landscape of Hoa Lu Ancient Capital have been preserved and promoted by the locality, serving the socio-economic development of the province in a harmonious and sustainable manner, aiming at the goal of building Ninh Binh into a specialized center of tourism, cultural industry, entertainment industry, heritage economy, event organization of the region, the country and the world, worthy of the long history of the ancient capital./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/le-hoi-hoa-lu-ton-vinh-long-tu-hao-dan-toc-va-tinh-than-dai-doan-ket-post1027095.vnp