Hanoi kicks off UNESCO-listed Saint Giong Festival

THE HANOI TIMES — The 2025 Giong Festival kicked off on May 4 (the seventh day of the fourth lunar month) at the Phu Dong Temple in Hanoi's Gia Lam District.

The festival was declared a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Truong Van Hoc, Vice Chairman of the Gia Lam District People's Committee, said the district is an ancient cultural convergence of Thang Long (the original name of Hanoi) and Kinh Bac (an ancient area comprising the Hanoi's neighboring provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang) and the sacred place where Saint Giong was born.

"The event is held annually between the seventh and ninth days of the fourth lunar month in commemoration of Genie Giong, a local hero who sacrificed his life to defeat invaders during the reign of the Sixth Hung King. It is celebrated with processions, rituals, offering of incense and performances," said Hoc.

The main day of the event falls on the ninth, when flags are carried from the Mother Temple to the Upper Temple and sacrifices are made. People perform ritual dances and songs, while battles against foreign invaders are re-enacted.

The procession is the main activity. According to tradition, people offer bamboo flowers, paper elephants and horses, and other items related to Saint Giong. Traditional games such as human chess and cock fighting are held during the event.

"Genie Giong symbolizes the patriotic spirit of the Vietnamese people and is one of the four immortals deeply rooted in their spiritual life," the official said.

Legend has it that Giong was conceived after his mother stepped in the footsteps of a giant. At the age of three, Giong suddenly grew into a giant and fought against foreign invaders.

The Giong Festival is held in several places in Hanoi. Among them, Soc Temple, where he ascended to heaven, and Phu Dong Temple, where he was born, are the two most important.

Domestic and foreign researchers have rated the Giong Festival as unique among Vietnam's 7,000 traditional folk festivals with special cultural and religious values. It was inscribed on UNESCO's World Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2010.

After 15 years of being declared a UNESCO heritage site, Gia Lam District authorities are preparing a dossier to upgrade the status of Phu Dong Historical Relic Site from a national relic to a special national relic. They will also introduce and promote the intangible heritage of mankind through cultural events in the city and the whole country.

Speaking at the ceremony, Jonathan Baker, UNESCO representative in Vietnam, praised the efforts of the Vietnamese Government and authorities in Hanoi, who have always been committed to protecting and promoting the precious tradition of the Giong Festival.

The 15-year journey is a call to protect and promote heritage, to accompany communities in their efforts to pass it on, and to spread the beauty and meaning of heritage to the international community, Baker stressed.