The main ceremony, to be held on April 12 (the 10th day of third lunar month) will include incense-offering ceremonies to Au Co-Lac Long Quan, the ancestors of the Vietnamese and Hung kings.

This will take place at the Hung Temple on Nghia Linh Mountain in Phong Chau District, 85km northwest of Hanoi.

The Hung Temple Festival is one of the most important and sacred festivals of the Vietnamese people and is deeply imbedded in the minds of every Vietnamese citizen, regardless of what province they come from.

Diverse activities will take place, such as a palanquin procession from surrounding villages to the Hung King Temple, lion dances, beating bronze drums, and cooking banh chung (square sticky rice cake) and banh day (round sticky rice cake).

Apart from the host province of Phu Tho, the festival will attract the participation of the provinces of Tuyen Quang, Hoa Binh, Nam Dinh, Quang Ngai and Dong Thap.

The Vietnam Heritage Association would present 18 bronze drums to the historical site of Hung King Temple, said Nguyen Tien Khoi, the director of the site and deputy-head of the festival organisation board.

Phu Tho Province will also hold a seminar on worshipping the Hung kings, with the participation of about 40 Vietnamese and foreign scientists.

The seminar is aimed at completing a submission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) proposing the recognition of the Hung Temple Festival as a world intangible cultural heritage.