The unique Giong Festival of Hanoi

Many people flocked to Soc Temple in Hanoi for the start of the Giong Festival on the sixth day of the first lunar month.

The festival is held annually around the capital to commemorate Saint Giong, a local hero who sacrificed his life to defeat foreign invaders.

This year, the Soc Son District People's Committee hosted the Giong Festival at the Special National Monument of Soc Temple for three days, from January 27-29.

It was celebrated with processions, rituals and performances.

The festival opens with a drumming performance. VNA/VNS Photos Nhat Anh

The parade is held as a part of the Giong Festival, which draws in a lot of visitors and locals

Bamboo flowers, betel, and areca are offered to Saint Giong and then presented to visitors. Models of elephants and horses are offered during the ceremony

A marcher is carrying a tray of bamboo flowers to offer to Saint Giong

The organizers of this year's Giong Festival touted the event's renewed emphasis on entertainment as the festival's most notable change.

The festival set up various folk games, including stilt walking, balancing a bridge, breaking earthen pots and cooking competitions.

The Special National Monument of Soc Temple also hosts various arts performances throughout the festival days.

Saint Giong, one of Vietnam's four 'immortal heroes,' is said to have been a little boy from Hanoi's Phu Dong Village who helped bring peace to the country by defeating the An invader in the 6th Hung King Dynasty.

Legend has it that after defeating the enemy, he rode his horse to the base of Soc Son mountain, took off his armour and rode an iron horse that took him on a heavenly flight.

To commemorate and praise the legendary hero Saint Giong, Giong Festival in Soc Temple is a traditional festival held from the 6th to the 8th day of the first lunar month every year.

UNESCO recognized Vietnam’s Giong Festival as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.