A festival commemorating the 245th death anniversary of peasant hero Hoang Cong Chat kicked off in Dien Bien district, the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien on March 24.
Started in 1994, the Hoang Cong Chat Temple Festival takes place every year on the 25th day of the second lunar month at Ban Phu Citadel, Noong Het commune.
The festival, the largest in Dien Bien province, features a wide range of cultural, art and sports activities, including a palanquin procession, incense offering, art performances and a show of traditional costumes of local ethnic groups such as Thai, H’Mong, Kho Mu, Lu and Lao.
Many folk games and a cooking contest are also held during the two-day event.
Ban Phu Citadel was built between 1758 and 1762 by Hoang Cong Toan, the son of Hoang Cong Chat, who led local people in the movement to protect the northwestern villages from the occupation of the Phe invaders from China in the 18th century.
The citadel and the temple, which were twice recognised as a national historical and cultural relic site in 1981 and 1994, have not only become an important cultural and spiritual destination for ethnic minorities in Dien Bien province but also an attraction for all Vietnamese and foreign tourists.