Expect a civilized, safe, and memorable festival season.
The recent Lunar New Year of the Snake 2025 marked the beginning of the festival season across the country, especially in the northern and north-central provinces… with a wide variety of festivals ranging from historical and cultural festivals, religious festivals, and folk festivals… A civilized and safe festival season is always the goal that cultural workers strive for as the best way to preserve and promote the value of traditional festivals, meeting the spiritual and cultural needs of the people.
Fascinating Spring Festivals
The 2025 holiday season has begun.With the Go Dong Da Spring Festival - commemorating the 236th anniversary of Emperor Quang Trung's great victory over the Qing army, the Huong Pagoda Festival (My Duc - Hanoi), the Bai Dinh Pagoda Festival (Ninh Binh), the Yen Tu Festival (Quang Ninh), the Huong Tich Festival (Ha Tinh), the Tam Chuc Spring Festival (Ha Nam) in 2025… the theme is "Sacred Convergence".
Along with that are folk and historical festivals such as the Giong Festival (Hanoi), the Ba Chua Kho Temple Festival (Bac Ninh), the Dong Cuong Temple Festival (Yen Bai)... Festival activities associated with the intangible cultural heritage of humanity "Practices of the Mother Goddess worship of the Three and Four Realms of the Vietnamese people" take place in many localities such as the Lieu Hanh Mother Goddess temple system (Phu Giay Festival - Nam Dinh), Ong Hoang Muoi Temple (Nghe An, Ha Tinh), Ong Hoang Bay (Lao Cai)... also attract many pilgrims.
In the South, the Ba Den Mountain Festival, themed "The Flavors and Colors of Tay Ninh in 2025," has commenced; in the Central region, the "Spring in the Ancient Capital" Festival kicks off a series of events in the National Tourism Year and the Hue Festival 2025.
However, the most vibrant and attractive destination for millions of tourists and Buddhist pilgrims during the early spring in the northern provinces remains Hanoi – the location of the 2025 Huong Pagoda Festival with the theme "Huong Pagoda Festival: A Vietnamese Tourism, Culture, and Tradition Destination". Opening on the 6th day of the first lunar month, the Huong Pagoda Festival will last for three months, until the 6th day of the third lunar month... Immediately after the opening ceremony, crowds flocked to Huong Pagoda along the roads leading to Yen Stream, demonstrating the immense appeal of this Buddhist scenic area.
This year's Yen Tu Spring Festival will open on the 10th day of the first lunar month (February 7, 2025) in Uong Bi city and will last for the first three months of the year. It is expected to attract millions of Buddhists, locals, and tourists to Yen Tu to participate in the festival, paying homage and expressing gratitude to Emperor Tran Nhan Tong and the ancestors who founded and developed the Truc Lam - Yen Tu Zen sect. They will also experience pilgrimage activities, learn about the cultural, religious, historical, and scenic values of this region, which boasts numerous historical sites associated with the Tran Dynasty, such as Uong Bi, Dong Trieu, Ha Long - Cua Ong - Bach Dang… and the Tran Temple Festival (Nam Dinh - Thai Binh)… Along with these, the Bai Dinh Pagoda Festival, Tam Chuc… also attract a large influx of visitors from across the northern provinces.
Festival activities in our country take place throughout the year, but the most frequent are in the spring. To date, despite the large number of visitors, the festivals have largely avoided the overcrowding, pushing, and抢夺 (scrambling for offerings) seen in previous years. Many festivals have focused on innovation, creating attractive destinations for tourists based on traditional cultural values.
Prior to the festival season, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also issued a document requesting localities to recommend measures to organize traditional festivals in accordance with their true nature and historical and cultural significance, in line with traditional customs and practices; and to eliminate or replace customs that are no longer suitable for the trend of integration and development.
At the recent regular government meeting in January 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested that efforts be intensified to promote awareness and responsibility among all levels, sectors, localities, the public, and tourists, especially among officials and civil servants, to strictly adhere to legal regulations on organizing and participating in festivals, ensuring safety, health, and economy, and promoting a civilized lifestyle in accordance with the nation's cultural traditions; absolutely no organizing or participating in wasteful and extravagant festivals. In particular, festivals should not be exploited to spread superstition for personal gain…
The festivals of Nghe An province attract tourists.
As a bridge between the cultural regions of the Northern Midlands and Delta and Central Vietnam, the Nghe An - Ha Tinh area attracts numerous tourists to its many famous historical sites and cultural and spiritual tourist destinations where visitors come to offer prayers for good fortune and peace. These include the Quang Trung Temple on Dung Quyet Mountain, the Kim Lien National Special Historical Site, and Dai Tue Pagoda (Nam Dan)... The system of temples dedicated to Ong Hoang Muoi in Nghe An and Ha Tinh is also a spiritual tourist destination attracting thousands of visitors daily. Not only locals, but also many tourists from Thanh Hoa, Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, and other provinces visit and offer prayers for a prosperous and abundant new year.
With a history spanning nearly 1,000 years, Cờn Temple in Hoàng Mai town is considered the "foremost sacred temple" of Nghệ An province, one of the most attractive spiritual tourism destinations for visitors from near and far to admire the scenery and pray for peace. In addition, other temples such as Chín Gian Temple, Nguyễn Xí Temple, Cả Temple, Quả Sơn Temple, etc., are also popular destinations for locals and tourists to visit during the spring season for sightseeing and worship.
In the early days of Spring 2025 (Year of the Snake), a festive atmosphere permeated famous spiritual tourist destinations in Nghe An, attracting tens of thousands of visitors from all over to visit, worship, pray for peace, and hope for a peaceful, lucky, and prosperous new year.
According to data from the Nghe An Department of Tourism, during the 9-day holiday (from the 26th day of the 12th lunar month of the Year of the Dragon to the 5th day of the 1st lunar month of the Year of the Snake), the province welcomed approximately 430,000 visitors, of which 138,000 were overnight guests; total tourism revenue is estimated at 479 billion VND.
The Nghe An cultural sector is intensifying its propaganda, guidance, organization, inspection, and supervision activities to prevent and promptly handle violations related to security, fire prevention, food safety and hygiene, and the implementation of civilized behavior during festivals, in conjunction with the protection of historical sites and scenic spots, to ensure absolute safety for festival participants. This aims to make this year's festival season truly civilized, safe, and impressive; to preserve and promote traditional cultural values, and to contribute to satisfying the cultural and spiritual needs of the people in the province.
