The Uong Bi city in Quang Ninh province will hold a ceremony on February 18 (the ninth day of the first lunar month) to receive the Prime Minister's certificate recognising Yen Tu historical site as a Special National Relic and open the 2013 Yen Tu Spring Festival.
The ceremony will take place at Trinh Pagoda in Yen Tu mountain and be broadcast live on Vietnam Television.
More than 400 artists from the Cheo (traditional operetta), Cai Luong (reformed theatre) and drama troupes and amateur actors in Uong Bi city will perform at the ceremony.
According to the Uong Bi city People's Committee, the annual Yen Tu Spring Festival will consist of a wide variety of religious activities including sounding the drum, striking the bell and a ceremony to offer incense and pray for a peaceful country and prosperous people.
The 9,200 hectare Yen Tu historical site, which includes a beautiful natural landscape and ancient pagodas, hermitages and towers, is strongly connected to King Tran Nhan Tong, who reigned over the country from 1279 to 1293 and then left the throne to become a Buddhist monk at Yen Tu mountain and find the Truc Lam Zen sect.
Recognising Yen Tu as a Special National Relic will contribute significantly to preserve and promote the values of historical sites in Vietnam in general and in Quang Ninh province in particular.
The ceremony is expected to attract about 10,000 visitors.