The Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee has asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Cultural Heritage Council to recognize Thanh Giong festival as an intangible cultural heritage.

The Thanh Giong festival is annually held from April 6-12 of the Lunar calendar in Hanoi’s outlying districts such as Gia Lam, Soc Son, Tu Liem and Thuong Tin.

The Thanh Giong festival commemorates a legendary character that ancient Vietnamese people turned into an object of worship and raised to the status of immortal saint, according to Dr. Nguyen Chi Ben, director of the Vietnam Culture and Art Institute.