The organizers of an upcoming major festival, which is scheduled for later this month to pay homage to the country’s founding kings, have said they will not allow visitors and journalists to use drone cameras during the event for safety reasons.

The organizing board of this year’s Hung Temple Festival, set to run in northern Phu Tho Province from April 23 to 28, has just imposed a ban on the use of such drones by pilgrims and journalists, according to Luu Quang Huy, director of the Hung Temple Relic.

The usage of the device – which is a stabilization mount for a video camera enabling smooth, steady, and aerial shots – has gained in popularity at Vietnamese festivals and events, and has produced gorgeous videos which usually cannot be shot with conventional cameras.

Huy explained that as usual, the Hung Temple Relic, which is nestled on mountains, will be filled to the brim with some one million visitors each day.

Drones may drop onto visitors’ heads, panicking them or even causing them injuries.

A drone camera is seen in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The equipment buzzing overhead can also easily spook those who have never set eyes on it before.

“We’ll request visitors and journalists to put the gadgets away if we detect them,” he noted.

The Hung Temple Complex, located in the province’s Viet Tri City, is a cluster of temples built in tribute to the Hung Kings.

The complex is the venue for the Hung Temple Festival, one of the country’s major events, which runs from the fifth to the tenth of the third lunar month, or around April each year, to honor the kings and their massive contributions in founding and ruling the country.

The 18 Hung dynasties are legendarily believed to reign over the country from 2,879 BC to 258 BC.

The annual event draws influxes of tourists and pilgrims, including overseas Vietnamese.

According to the organizers, up to 1,000 members of the local police force, army, and security teams will be deployed to ensure order and safety at this year’s fest.

The 2015 event will feature incense offerings to the Hung Kings and Lac Long Quan and Au Co – who are traditionally believed to be the kings’ parents – as well as palanquin processions.

Festive activities will include exhibitions of worship photos, a cultural camp, and performances of the province’s signature “xoan” folk songs, among others.

A palanquin procession is seen during a Hung Temple Festival. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The organizers will make public their hotline numbers, 0210.3860026 and 0210.6551666, on boards to be erected around the festival venue so as to receive tourists’ feedback and tips-off about rips-off and service.

The organizers have also requested owners of food and service stands within the venue to pledge that they will not turn on music with high-capacity speakers in an attempt to ensure the festival’s order and solemnity.

Local office workers are expected to have a six-day public holiday lasting from April 28 to May 3.

The holiday combines the Hung Kings’ Death Anniversary on April 28; Reunification Day on April 30; and Labor Day on May 1.

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