Imprints of Hoa Lu Festival 2025 Connecting the past - Building the future

Hoa Lu Festival (formerly known as Truong Yen Festival or Co Lau Festival) is a traditional festival with a long history held annually at the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital National Special Relic Site (Truong Yen Commune, Hoa Lu City) to commemorate the merits of national hero Dinh Bo Linh, who built the Hoa Lu capital, established the Dai Co Viet state and opened a long period of independence and unity of the nation.

Hoa Lu Festival vividly reflects the life, background and career of King Dinh Tien Hoang and the history of Vietnam through the three dynasties of Dinh, Tien Le and Ly. The Hoa Lu Festival was solemnly organized by feudal dynasties. Today, the festival still preserves unique cultural and folk art elements imbued with the culture of the land and people of the ancient capital Hoa Lu.

Continuing that historical and cultural tradition, Hoa Lu Festival in 2025 will be organized at the provincial level with the status of National Intangible Cultural Heritage for 3 days, from March 9 to 11, At Ty year (April 6, 2025 to April 8, 2025) . The Temple Opening Ceremony, the National Peace and Prosperity Prayer Ceremony and the Lantern Festival will be held on the 8th day of the 3rd lunar month (April 5, 2025) .

The focus of the Festival is the content of the Ceremony with unique traditional rituals and ceremonies imbued with cultural identity and beliefs, solemnly and respectfully held at the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital National Monument, reflecting the unique cultural features and traditions of the ancient capital, expressing the close connection between the past, present and future of the country's and people's origins according to the morality of "When drinking water, remember its source", creating a sacred, bustling and culturally diverse atmosphere. The Ceremony will take place in the following order: Temple opening ceremony held before the opening day of the Festival is an important spiritual ritual, starting a series of activities taking place at the Festival, the National Peace Prayer Ceremony and the Lantern Festival (on the night before the opening of the Festival) , the Water Procession Ceremony (in the early morning of the opening day of the Festival) , the Bathing Ceremony, the Incense Offering Ceremony, the Offering Ceremony, the Palanquin Procession Ceremony, the Nine-Curve Sacrifice, the Traditional Sacrifice taking place throughout the festival at the 2 temples. The Thanksgiving Ceremony takes place last to report and pay tribute to the ancestors. The unique and special part of the ceremony of Hoa Lu Festival is the Water Procession Ceremony, a particularly meaningful ritual, preserved and passed down for thousands of years to pray for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather, good crops, a prosperous life for all people, and at the same time expressing the nation's morality of "When drinking water, remember its source". And the palanquin procession (with 09 participating palanquins, including palanquins from 05 relics worshiping King Dinh Tien Hoang and figures related to the Dinh Dynasty and 04 relics worshiping King Le Dai Hanh and figures related to the Le Dynasty in 06 districts and cities about the festival) is a ritual that connects the spiritual relics of the Dinh - Tien Le Dynasty with each other and the center of the ancient capital Hoa Lu.

For the first time, the Festival Opening Ceremony was held in conjunction with the Welcome Art Program at Dinh Tien Hoang De Square (Ninh Khanh Ward, Hoa Lu City) to celebrate Hoa Lu City achieving the criteria of a class I urban area (established on the basis of merging Ninh Binh City and Hoa Lu District) , attracting a large number of people and tourists from all over the country to join in the activities of the Festival, multiplying the joy and pride of the people of the new city - Hoa Lu City with the development orientation of a millennium heritage urban area, a creative city. The program was held on the evening of March 9th of the Lunar calendar (April 6, 2025) and broadcast live on Ninh Binh Radio and Television Station. The special art program "Hoa Lu Ninh Binh - The origin of the Imperial Capital, a thousand years of prosperity" includes 2 chapters "The origin of the Imperial Capital - Opening a prosperous foundation" and "Hoa Lu - Ninh Binh - Rising to a new era" performed by actors and artists from theaters and art units of the Central, Hanoi and Ninh Binh. The art program brought the audience back to the land of the Ancient Capital - where the national hero Dinh Bo Linh defeated and subdued 12 warlords, unified the country, built the capital, proclaimed himself emperor, named the country, changed the reign title, affirmed the independence and autonomy of our Vietnam at that time. Cultural, historical and natural values ​​have been, are and will be preserved, maintained and promoted by Ninh Binh, becoming an endogenous resource to step firmly into the future. It is estimated that tens of thousands of delegates and people attended the Opening Ceremony of the Festival and thousands of people watched the Program on the Provincial Radio and Television Station; website, fanpage of the Provincial Radio and Television Station and on other social platforms. The reception was solemn and thoughtful. Security and order were ensured.

Along with that are the festival activities with many cultural activities, sports , folk games, exhibition activities, competitions, seminars... organized in a diverse, rich, attractive, practical way, attracting the participation of people and tourists from all over the world, held at the Festival yard (Relic Site). The festival activities are organized in a smooth connection with the rituals, creating a joyful and healthy atmosphere in the festival space with the cultural characteristics of the people and the land of the Ancient Capital. Activities include lion dance, dragon dance; mass art exchange; drum performance; gong performance; water puppetry; film screening and professional art performances; along with folk games such as: human chess, cockfighting, tom diem, archery, crossbow shooting; sports activities such as: volleyball exchange, National Talent Wrestling Championship 2025; Program "Spring Martial Arts for the second time, 2025"; Competition, display, exhibition and promotion activities such as: competition and display of five-fruit trays for the King, "Thai Binh" calligraphy competition, "Co lau exercise" performance competition, calligraphy competition, skillful boat rowing competition, display of images and artifacts of Hoa Lu Capital and Dai Co Viet State, "Non nuoc Ninh Binh" art photo exhibition, Ninh Binh tourism promotion activities, mobile job fairs. The new features of the 2025 Festival are: organizing seminars and discussions related to Dai Co Viet State such as the scientific seminar "The life and career of U Ba Pham Thi Tran", the seminar and exhibition "Costume and ancient costumes of the Dinh Dynasty", launching the ancient costume film project "Ho linh trang trai si"; not organizing the Youth Camp but instead organizing cultural and sports activities for the Youth at the Festival grounds; Organize exhibition spaces to introduce history, culture, handicraft products, OCOP products, typical goods and services of districts and cities at the Relic Site during the Festival.

In particular, the conference "Costume and ancient costumes of the Dinh Dynasty" and the launch of the ancient costume film project "Ho linh trang trai si" (exchange, analysis, clarification of some issues on costumes and ancient costumes of the Dinh Dynasty; providing and supplementing documents, to have a more comprehensive, detailed, and specific view of all aspects of life, cultural and social activities of our country in the 10th century, contributing to continuing to preserve and promote the cultural and historical values ​​of the ancient capital of Hoa Lu) held at the festival ground, expanding the scale of activities at the relic site (Spring Martial Arts Program with 1,530 athletes from 16 units including 05 neighboring provinces, for the first time with the appearance of 8 strongest lion and dragon troupes in the country; The flag-raising performance competition and the Thai Binh word drawing attracted 19 units of communes and wards of Hoa Lu city to participate with nearly 2,000 students, including units from Ninh Phong, Ninh Phuc, Ninh Tien, Ninh Son, Bich Dao, Nam Binh,... for the first time returned to the ancient capital to participate;...) and organized the Opening Ceremony of the Festival, the Scientific Workshop "The life and career of Upasika Pham Thi Tran", the Artistic Welcome Program held in the center of Hoa Lu city is the expansion and connection of cultural spaces, enhancing the scale of organization and influence of the Festival, better serving the spiritual and cultural needs of the people and the participation of tourists.

It can be said that the organization of Hoa Lu Festival is increasingly systematic, creative and has widespread influence, the Festival activities take place safely, solemnly, attractively, attracting the participation and enthusiastic response of people and tourists from all over. That is the joy and pride of the land and people of Ninh Binh . Hoa Lu Festival is not only a unique traditional cultural event of the people of the Ancient Capital, but also a national intangible cultural heritage, increasingly being raised in both scale and quality of organization. The festival is a symbol of patriotism, national pride, spreading the quintessence of thousand-year-old culture, a place connecting the past and present, between tradition and modernity.

Source: https://vhtt.ninhbinh.gov.vn/vi/su-kien/dau-an-le-hoi-hoa-lu-nam-2025-ket-noi-qua-khu-xay-dung-tuong-lai-1364.html