The dossier of the Vietnamese Giong Festival, sent to UNESCO in a bid to get the festival recognised as an intangible cultural heritage, has been preliminarily approved and forwarded to UNSECO’s Intergovernmental Committee for further appraisal.

This was announced by the Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on January 26.

The result of the second assessment round will be known in June and the result of the final round will be announced at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritages in Kenya in November.

The Giong Festival is held from the 6^th to the 12^th day of the fourth lunar month every year at Phu Dong (or Giong) Village in Gia Lam District, Hanoi, as well as in several other Hanoi locales, including Phu Ninh Village in Soc Son District and Xuan Dinh Village in Tu Liem District. The main festival day is on the 9th day of the month.

The festival commemorates a legendary character whom the ancient Vietnamese turned into an immortal saint.

The festival celebrates Saint Giong, a legendary Vietnamese hero who fought against northern invaders.

The legend says that once upon a time, a poor woman from Giong Village went to the rice paddy and saw a giant step. Curious, she stepped onto the step; not long after, she discovered she was pregnant and later gave birth to a son she named Giong. As a three-year old, the boy still didn’t know how to speak and never laughed. But when the country was invaded, the boy suddenly began to speak and asked the King to give him an iron horse, an iron suit of armour and an iron rod, so that he could fight against the invaders. He then rose up to become a giant.

After having fought and triumphed over the enemy, he and his horse went to Soc Mountain. On the mountain top, he removed his armour and flew into the sky with his horse.

The Giong Festival is considered one more testament to the indomitable spirit of the Vietnamese nation when pitted against foreign invaders.

Festival performances recount Saint Giong’s celebrated battles as his troops squared off against the aggressors, portrayed by crowds of people from four communes in Phu Dong Village.

The festival involves young boys and girls acting out the performance’s most important parts, after having practiced for the festival all year.