Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi

Đại lễ 1000 năm Thăng Long – Hà Nội

Logo of the anniversary
Date	1–10 October 2010
Location	Hà Nội
Also known as	Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi
Outcome	Successful
Website	thanglonghanoi.gov.vn

The Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi (Vietnamese: Đại lễ 1000 năm Thăng Long – Hà Nội) was celebrated from 1 to 10 October 2010, the 1,000th anniversary of the foundation of the capital Thăng Long by the emperor Lý Thái Tổ. There were many events that were held in 2009 and 2010 to commemorate the Millennial Anniversary including cultural and traditional festivals, inaugurations of major projects of Hanoi among others.

According to Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, Lý Thái Tổ, the first emperor of the Lý Dynasty, decided to moved the capital of the country from Hoa Lư to Đại La in the seventh month of the Lunar calendar, 1010. When the convoy of Lý Thái Tổ arrived in Đại La, a golden dragon rose beside the emperor's boat, hence Lý Thái Tổ changed the name of the new capital from Đại La to Thăng Long (, literally The Rising Dragon).

There are many major projects of the city of Hanoi that were constructed and inaugurated in commemorating the Millennial Anniversary. Amongs them several construction works would have their inauguration days from 1 to 10 October 2010:

In February 2010, a project was announced in which 1,000 objects will be buried with a message for the future generations in 1,000 years. They are 63 representative items for 63 provinces of Vietnam and another 937 items from ordinary life suggested by people of Hanoi. All objects will be kept in a container of 1,000 liters which symbolizes 1,000 years of Thăng Long - Hanoi and would be buried in the site of the Hanoi Museum.

The Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi will be officially celebrated from 1 to 10 October 2010, with the great celebration (Đại lễ kỉ niệm) held on Sunday, 10 October 2010, which is also the Liberation Day of Hanoi (1954). The ceremony is considered one of the most important events of Vietnam in the year 2010 after the official instruction No. 32-CT/TU of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam, to organize the Millennial Anniversary, a committee was established with members from the Politburo, the Government of Vietnam and the City of Hanoi. The main purpose of the ceremony is expressing gratefulness to generations of Vietnamese in the past who contributed to the defence and development of the country, and passing this tradition on to the future generations. Exactly 1,000 days before the official ceremony, a count-down clock of 17 m high and 8m wide was inaugurated at the Bà Kiệu Temple, in front of the Hoan Kiem Lake, on 13 January 2008.