Over 5.5 million visitors have flocked to the northern province of Phu Tho to join the Hung Kings festival in commemoration of the death of the founding fathers of Vietnam, a local official said in a press meeting on Friday.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Chinh, deputy director of the Phu Tho Department of Information and Communications, said that the province had recorded over 5.5 million visitors as of April 15, and the number is expected to rise to seven million at the end of Saturday, as the country enters a national holiday.

Every year on the tenth day of the third month in the lunar calendar, people in Vietnam commemorate the death of Hung Kings, the first 18 rulers who reigned over ancient Vietnam from around 2879 to 258 BC.

Hung Kings’ Death Anniversary has been a public holiday since 2000 as offerings are held simultaneously at over 1,400 Hung Kings temples nationwide, with the biggest event taking place at the Hung Temples Relic Site in Viet Tri City, Phu Tho.

This year, the kings’ death anniversary falls on April 16, and public workers and students across the nation enjoy a three-day holiday running from Saturday to Monday.

“By 2017, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will have standardized the offering rituals for the kings throughout the nation,” Chinh said.

According to her, security and order at the festival in Phu Tho have been ensured over the past days, with no instances of overcharged tourists or street beggars recorded.

“We expect that the festival will welcome from 1.5 to two million more tourists by the end of April 16, raising the total number of visitors to this year’s fest to seven million,” Chinh said.

Vietnam’s Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong also attended the offering ritual at 7:00 am on Saturday at Thuong Temple on Nghia Linh Mountain, part of the Hung Temples Relic Site.

Visitors offer incense to Hung Kings at Thuong Temple on Nghia Linh Mountain, Phu Tho Province, April 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A grand-scale ceramic mosaic displayed at the Hung Temples RelicSite in Phu Tho Province, April 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Visitors engage in a traditional game of northern Vietnam at the Hung Temples Relic Site in Phu Tho Province, April 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Bui Khanh Ly, a junior ‘xoan’ singer, is pictured moments before she performs at the Hung Kings festival at the Hung Temples Relic Site in Phu Tho Province, April 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A family takes a rest at Trung Temple after going a long way to attend the Hung Kings festival at the Hung Temples Relic Site in Phu Tho Province, April 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Small notes are seen being placed by visitors on many altars at the Hung Temples Relic Site in Phu Tho Province to wish for good luck, April 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A girl is seen reading a king’s letter replica during a ceremony at the Hung Temples Relic Site in Phu Tho Province, April 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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