From early evening people began to sit on the walkways around Van Lang Lake in the downtown area, where the fireworks show started at 9:30 p.m.
Vietnamese celebrate the kings’ anniversary on the 10th of the third lunar month each year. This year it falls on Thursday (April 18).
The mythical kings are believed to have made great contributions to forming the Vietnamese nation.
At around 8 p.m. heavy rain fell on a square area accompanied by thunder and lightning.
Some people rushed to find shelter while others used plastic sheets to protect themselves from the rain.
A father and his daughter wear plastic bags on their heads to avoid the rain and tease each other before the fireworks show.
A fireworks display over the pedestrian bridge on the Van Lang Park lake.
At 9:30 p.m. the rain stopped just in time for the fireworks to begin.
In recent years Phu Tho Province has allowed high-altitude fireworks on the occasion of the Hung Kings' anniversary, turning it into a major tourist highlight.
The fireworks lasted 15 minutes.
Vu Thi Luyen, 32, and a group of 30 people from Thanh Son District traveled more than 50 km to visit the Hung Kings’ Temple on Nghia Linh Mountain on Wednesday morning.
They stayed to watch the fireworks and planned to return home at 3 a.m. Thursday.
Two- and three-star hotels around Viet Tri City were fully booked a week before the festival. Room prices range from VND300,000 to 500,000.
On major hotel booking applications such as Agoda and Booking, rooms were available on Thursday only in high-end hotels such as Muong Thanh, Sojo and Saigon Phu Tho at around VND1 million.
Motels priced at under VND200,000 around Viet Tri City were full up on Thursday.
