A photo series two years in the making has taken the top prize at Hà Nội's 13th Art Photography Exhibition, and it's a good excuse to see the Vietnamese capital through a different lens. Lê Ngọc Tú won gold for images of the Gióng Festival at Phù Đổng Temple, a ritual-packed celebration in the Red River Delta that brings the legend of Saint Gióng to life. Tú returned to the festival repeatedly across 2025 and 2026, shooting with both cameras and drones to capture its most defining moments.

The exhibition, themed Hà Nội – Imprints of Heritage, whittled 700-plus submissions down to 65 images. Judges handed out 11 awards: one gold, two silver, three bronze and five certificates of merit. The silvers went to Lê Đức Kim for shots of the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel and Dương Thị Ngọc Chiến for a Confucian ritual at Văn Miếu – Quốc Tử Giám, the country's first national university. Bronze winners covered everything from bánh tẻ, a traditional rice cake made in northern Việt Nam, to recognisable city sights like Hồ Hoàn Kiếm (Returned Sword) Lake, Long Biên Bridge and the old gate of Ô Quan Chưởng.

What makes the show worth a look is its framing. Trần Thị Thu Đông, chairwoman of the Việt Nam Association of Photographic Artists, noted at the opening that heritage here goes beyond postcard landmarks to include living traditions such as ca trù, an ancient form of sung poetry. Several photographers turned their lenses on how these old legacies collide with contemporary city life — the idea being that Hà Nội is changing fast while still holding onto what previous generations passed down. It's also a younger crowd: organisers flagged the number of emerging photographers experimenting with fresh angles.

For travellers, the exhibition doubles as an inspiration board. It runs until October 5 at the Hoàn Kiếm Centre for Culture, Information and Sports, timed to the 72nd anniversary of Hà Nội's Liberation Day on October 10. If you're in the capital in early October, it's a free education in what to look for beyond the Old Quarter — festivals like Đình Chèm and Gióng, lakeside mornings at Hoàn Kiếm, and the craft traditions still practised in surrounding villages.

The Gióng Festival itself is a UNESCO-recognised event held annually in spring at Phù Đổng Temple on the city's northern edge, so anyone planning a trip around Hanoi's cultural calendar could pair a future visit with it. In the meantime, the exhibition compresses a full year (or two) of the city's ritual life into one afternoon's viewing.