Hoa Lu Festival 2026 is held at the Special National Relic Site of Hoa Lu Ancient Capital (Tay Hoa Lu ward, Ninh Binh province).
Within the framework of the Festival, the temple opening ceremony will be held on the morning of April 24 (taking place one day before the opening ceremony) at the Temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang, the Temple of King Le Dai Hanh with activities of offering offerings and rituals, to commemorate the great contributions of the Ancestral Emperors and predecessors who contributed to building and defending the country.
At the same time, expressing determination to promote the tradition of solidarity, joining hands, uniting hearts, arousing aspirations for development, accelerating breakthroughs, building Ninh Binh to become increasingly rich and strong, becoming a centrally-run city before 2030.
Next is the water procession held on the morning of April 25. This is a sacred traditional ritual that has existed for a long time, to commemorate the merits of King Dinh Tien Hoang in unifying the country, building a prosperous and developed Dai Co Viet State.
The water procession ceremony is carried out from early morning, starting from the gate of King Dinh Tien Hoang Temple, passing through King Le Dai Hanh Temple to the Hoang Long river wharf.
The unique and distinctive feature of the Water Procession Ceremony at the Hoa Lu Festival is the rituals taking place in the river space. The ritual of worshiping gods and processing sacred water sources evokes folk historical legends about the story of the Golden Dragon appearing on the river, bringing Dinh Bo Linh across the river, saving the king in his lifetime.
After ascending the throne as Emperor, remembering the gratitude of the Golden Dragon, every year King Dinh asked to bring water from the sacred river to worship at Thai Mieu, praying for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather, good harvests, and a prosperous life for all people, and at the same time expressing the morality of "When drinking water, remember the source" of the nation.
Water taken from the Hoang Long River is offered at the Temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang and here is performed the Moc Duc ceremony, Tien Pham ceremony, with the meaning of praising the merits of the Kings and praying for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather, and prosperous people.
The opening ceremony of the Hoa Lu Festival 2026 will take place tonight (April 25), at Dinh Tien Hoang Square with many special art performances and high-altitude fireworks displays.
After the opening ceremony, activities of the festival section will take place such as: five-fruit tray display contest, wrestling, Chinese chess, volleyball, ornamental creature display, art photo exhibition, movie screening, display of images and artifacts about Hoa Lu Capital...
