Hùng Lô Village Festival

On December 9, 2022, the Hùng Lô Village Festival took place in the village formerly known as Khả Lãm Trang, later renamed An Lão. Located 9km east of the Hùng Kings’ Temple, Hùng Lô Village covers an area of nearly 2km² with a population of over 6,000 people. It is bordered by the Lô River to the east, Kim Đức to the west, Phượng Lâu commune (Viet Tri City) to the south, and Vĩnh Phú commune (Phù Ninh district) to the north.

With its convenient terrain, Kẻ Xốm (formerly Hùng Lô) quickly became a trading center and a region with a long history. This place has preserved and promoted cultural beauties, contributing to the construction of the ancestral land, deserving to be the root of the Vietnamese nation. Visiting Hùng Lô Village during festivals, visitors immerse themselves in the grand procession. The Xốm Village Festival in Hùng Lô has a long-standing tradition, celebrated twice a year on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month (Death Anniversary of Hùng Kings) and the Feast of Saintization on the 12th day of the 9th lunar month. However, the most significant is the ceremonial procession offering tributes to the Hùng Kings’ Temple on the Death Anniversary of Hùng Kings.

The ritual of worshiping the Hùng Kings is closely associated with the traditional festival of the Hùng Lô people. The Xốm Village Festival in Hùng Lô has a long-standing tradition, celebrated twice a year on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month (Death Anniversary of Hùng Kings) and the Feast of Saintization on the 12th day of the 9th lunar month. However, the most significant is the ceremonial procession offering tributes to the Hùng Kings’ Temple on the Death Anniversary of Hùng Kings. The ceremony is meticulously prepared, with elaborate planning each month, from acquiring ceremonial offerings, raising worship chickens, selecting a person to make the ceremonial feast, choosing the leader of the procession.

The ceremonial part includes various rituals: offering tributes to the Hùng Kings, including square and round glutinous rice cakes, fruits, and items made by the villagers.

After the ceremony, the villagers organize a procession to the Hùng Kings’ Temple. The procession, consisting of about 200 people dressed in traditional festival costumes, carries four palanquins. During the procession from Hùng Lô to the Hùng Kings’ Temple, lion dances are performed at each resting point: arriving at the Hàng crossroads, the procession stops for one night. On the early morning of the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month, the procession continues to the Hùng Kings’ Temple. After the palanquin is brought up to the Upper Temple for the ancestral worship ceremony, the Hùng Lô palanquin is joyfully and enthusiastically brought back to the village by the locals. To welcome the procession, from inside the village, the bat cống palanquin is solemnly brought out, along with the lively lion dance, under the spring sun, to the head of the village, joining the procession back to the village. The villagers express their gratitude through the grand ceremony and conclude the festival.

Hùng Lô Procession

The festive part includes various enjoyable activities related to culture, arts, and sports. Many traditional folk games are reenacted, such as human chess, cockfighting, blindfolded drumming, and a rapid competition in making square glutinous rice cakes.

Since 2007, Hùng Lô has restored the tradition of making ceremonial feasts from the past. The whole village is divided into three groups: Hàng Đông, Hàng Thượng, and Hàng Trung. Each group selects a person to raise a worship chicken. The chickens must be raised from the previous year, fed with rice, cornmeal, and sticky rice bran, ensuring they are plump and healthy. When preparing for the feast, it is essential to choose someone without mourning, skilled in cutting, plucking feathers, boiling the chicken without scratching the skin, and cooking without cracking. The sticky rice for making xôi (steamed sticky rice) must be selected from fragrant white glutinous rice. Unmarried girls are selected to pick out broken or defective grains. The water used to boil the chicken and blow the xôi must be taken from the middle of the Lô River and brought back for cooking.

Immersing oneself in the Hùng Lô procession festival is the only way to feel the solemn yet lively and bustling atmosphere of the festival day. By preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of the ceremonial procession, the people of Hùng Lô not only directly educate the local generations about the history and culture of their homeland but also contribute practically to the preservation of the nation’s cultural identity.