Excited about Hung Temple Festival

Farmers, veterans, the elderly, women, youths… everyone joined the association and group to attend the festival. Preparations took place a month before the Ancestor’s Death Anniversary. From inviting this person and that person to renting a car, calculating travel expenses. They were thoughtful about every bottle of water, every bread, and every carton of milk to eat on the road. With their frugal nature, they prepared everything for the trip.

Going to the festival for a day feels like being away from home for a whole week. Worrying about whether your husband and children at home are cooking properly or just eating instant noodles. Seeing the rain washing the temple, worrying about the fields that have just been fertilized. Worrying about the chicks being left hungry, the men at home are often not careful with the little things around the house. Before getting on the bus, I told my family all about it, but I still didn't feel at ease.

Then the car started moving while the trees and leaves on the roadside were still wet with dew. The stories at home were temporarily put aside and everyone began to talk excitedly about the festival. Those who had been to Hung Temple for many years recalled their memories. They all hoped that this year's festival would not have the suffocating jostling. The shops would not raise prices so that people from all over the place who came to attend the Ancestor's Death Anniversary would not have to worry when they decided to stop for a drink or a meal. They hoped that the pilgrims would keep the public clean so that there would be no more trash everywhere, from the temple yard to the tree roots and stone benches.

Those who were visiting Hung Temple for the first time could not hide their excitement when they came back to offer incense to commemorate the Hung Kings. Incense and flowers for the offerings had been prepared at home. The incense had to be the most fragrant, the flowers had to be the freshest, and the hearts were filled with respect.

Occasionally, the phone rang. A little child told his mother to remember to buy a flute, plastic singing birds, and wooden dragonflies that could be balanced on the ground. A husband called to remind his wife that she had high blood pressure and should not push and shove. Someone else called just to ask, “If you don’t bring an umbrella, how will you protect yourself from the sun and rain? What if you get sick?”. In no time, the car stopped on the way to the entrance of the festival…

This year, visitors to the Hung Kings' Commemoration Day are even more excited to admire the relief of Uncle Ho talking to officers and soldiers of the Vanguard Army Corps, located at the Gieng Temple 5-way intersection. From afar, visitors can see the relief standing tall in the middle of the green forest. Here, Uncle Ho's immortal words still echo: "The Hung Kings had the merit of building the country, we, your descendants, must work together to protect the country."