Con Son - Kiep Bac Spring Festival 2024

On the morning of February 25 (January 16), the opening ceremony of the Con Son - Kiep Bac Spring Festival 2024, the ceremony to commemorate the 690th anniversary of the death of the Third Patriarch of Truc Lam Huyen Quang, and the ceremony to announce the Prime Minister's decision to recognize the Three Worlds Buddha statues of Con Son Pagoda as a national treasure were solemnly held at Con Son Pagoda in the special national relic site of Con Son - Kiep Bac (Chi Linh).

Attending the ceremony were comrades of the Party Central Committee: Luong Quoc Doan, Chairman of the Vietnam Farmers' Union; Tran Duc Thang, Secretary of the Hai Duong Provincial Party Committee; comrades: Hoang Dao Cuong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism; representatives of leaders of ministries, departments, branches, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, and some provinces such as: Bac Giang, Hung Yen, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh...

Also present was Mr. Hwang In Guk, Deputy Mayor, Head of the Delegation of Suwon City (Korea), a twinned locality of Hai Duong province.

Also attending were comrades: Le Van Hieu, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; Trieu The Hung, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; comrades in the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee; leaders of the Provincial People's Council and People's Committee.

The opening speech by comrade Trieu The Hung, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Hai Duong province highlighted the great historical and cultural values ​​of Con Son and the contributions of the Third Patriarch Huyen Quang to the Truc Lam Zen Buddhist sect.

Over the past 7 centuries, the great historical and cultural values ​​in Con Son have contributed to creating a unique, diverse and distinctive culture, becoming a traditional cultural stream with a strong vitality, spreading and penetrating deeply into the consciousness of the community and each Buddhist.

With its great value, the Con Son - Kiep Bac relic site was ranked as a special national relic by the State in 2012; the Con Son - Kiep Bac Festival was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national intangible cultural heritage; Con Son Pagoda is one of 20 important component relic sites in the dossier submitted to UNESCO to recognize Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac as a world heritage.

Tourists coming to Con Son come to places that are very familiar in the minds of many people such as: Hun Pagoda, Nguyen Trai Temple, Tran Nguyen Dan Temple, Con Son Stream, Ban Co Tien, Ngu Nhac Linh Tu... and a system of treasures, antiques, and archaeology created and preserved through many generations.

Also here, on February 15, 1965, President Ho Chi Minh visited Con Son. The image of Uncle reading the “Con Son Tu Phuc Tu Bi” stele has become a sacred memory, reminding and advising us to remember our roots and always be grateful to our ancestors.

Over the years, Hai Duong has always promoted the tangible and intangible cultural values ​​at the Con Son relic site; paid attention to investing, preserving, renovating and restoring many typical works to make Con Son a "beautiful place of pine forests..." as President Ho Chi Minh instructed.

The 2024 Con Son - Kiep Bac Spring Festival maintains rituals such as: Water procession, memorial and festival opening ceremony, sacrifice ceremony on Ngu Nhac mountain, death anniversary ceremony and Mong Son Thi Thuc... The festival includes a contest to wrap Chung cake, pound Giay cake; firecracker festival, traditional wrestling, chess and many unique cultural and sports activities.

By organizing the Culture, Tourism and Trade Promotion Week, and organizing the Cross-Country Race "Cultural Heritage Connection Journey" for the first time, these activities will contribute to enriching the appeal of the festival and promoting typical and unique products of Hai Duong to domestic and international friends.

In particular, at this year's festival, Hai Duong was honored to receive the Prime Minister's decision to recognize the Three Worlds Buddha statues at Con Son Pagoda as national treasures. This statue set, along with two national treasures, Thanh Hu Dong stele and Con Son Tu Phuc Tu Bi stele at Con Son relic site, are authentic and complete evidence in the nomination dossier for the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac relic and landscape complex as a world heritage site.

After the speech of Chairman of Hai Duong Provincial People's Committee Trieu The Hung, Comrade Tran Duc Thang, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of Hai Duong Provincial Party Committee, beat the drum to open the Con Son - Kiep Bac spring festival in 2024.

Immediately after the opening ceremony, in the sacred atmosphere of Con Son mountains and forests, delegates, people and tourists from all over respectfully offered incense to commemorate the 690th anniversary of the passing of the Third Patriarch of the Truc Lam Zen sect, Venerable Huyen Quang.

Before that, within the framework of the festival, the Water Procession took place.

After the Opening Ceremony is the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Culinary Culture, Tourism and Trade Promotion Week with many special activities.