A Buddhist flag measuring 500 square meters flutters against the blue sky. Photo: Le Minh/Vietnam Photo News.
For the first time, Ho Chi Minh City successfully hosted the 20th United Nations Vesak Day celebration in 2025, marking the fourth time Vietnam has been honored to be chosen as the venue for this important Buddhist cultural event. This demonstrates the growing importance and role of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in the international Buddhist community.
Domestic and international delegates attend the 20th United Nations Vesak Day celebration - Vesak 2025.
Vesak, or Buddha's Birthday, is a major cultural event for the Buddhist community. Followers of the Buddha across the globe joyfully celebrate the sacred Vesak festival, an event honored by the United Nations for its message of wisdom and boundless compassion. This year, the event holds even greater significance for Buddhism and the Vietnamese nation, as Ho Chi Minh City hosts it for the first time, coinciding with the nationwide celebration of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Southern Vietnam and national reunification (April 30, 1975 – April 30, 2025).
The United Nations Vesak 2025 celebration officially opened at the Vietnam Buddhist Academy in Ho Chi Minh City.
The 2025 Vesak celebration will have the theme "Unity and Tolerance for Human Dignity: Buddhist Wisdom for World Peace and Sustainable Development".
The 2025 Vesak celebration also brings joy to the people and the Buddhist community, expressing respect and gratitude to the Buddha, uniting people in faith, sharing and rejoicing through many diverse and impressive Buddhist cultural and festival activities.
According to reports, 1,300 international delegates from 85 countries and territories officially registered to attend the 2025 United Nations Vesak Celebration in Vietnam, along with a large number of monks and Buddhists from the local area and across the country. The event featured numerous cultural activities, festivals, artistic performances, and international discussions held at temples and Buddhist academies throughout the city. In addition, 600 volunteers and thousands of Buddhists provided logistical support and service, contributing to the overall success of this year's Vesak celebration.
Lantern festival/memorial ceremony to honor fallen heroes and martyrs on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Southern Vietnam and the reunification of the country.
Lanterns were released onto the surface of Lang Le Park lake. Photo: Le Minh/Vietnam Photo News.
The grand celebration featured seven main and distinctive cultural and artistic activities that attracted a large audience, including: an art program held at Lang Le Cultural Park (Binh Chanh district) with the participation of domestic and international artists from China, India, and Mongolia; an exhibition of "Vietnamese Buddhist Culture" showcasing 87 national treasures of Vietnamese Buddhism; a flag-raising ceremony with a 500m Buddhist flag and a 10m high peace balloon, with representatives from participating countries signing a commemorative message on the balloon; a lantern festival with 35,000 lanterns lit in a prayer for peace; a cultural fair; and a special tea ceremony program.
This year's Vesak celebration received over 1,000 papers focusing on the theme of "Unity and Tolerance for Human Dignity: Buddhist Wisdom for World Peace and Sustainable Development," once again affirming that in Buddhist teachings, the philosophy of unity and tolerance are two core elements that express compassion, wisdom, and aim towards the common happiness and well-being of the community, and the sustainable development of each nation and people.
The success of the 2025 Vesak Celebration, themed "Unity and Tolerance for Human Dignity: Buddhist Wisdom for World Peace and Sustainable Development," once again affirms the profound responsibility of Buddhism in addressing global issues.
Paying homage to the Buddha's relics on the summit of Mount Ba Den.
A prayer ceremony for world peace was held on the summit of Mount Ba Den.
The grand ceremony is a great source of inspiration, awakening faith and igniting benevolent energy in each person; affirming the core values of Buddhism such as compassion, mindfulness, and morality, capable of pointing to an effective and sustainable path to solving current global problems and challenges, from holistic human development and environmental protection to building lasting peace; it is a powerful call to promote international cooperation to create a peaceful, just, and sustainable world for the common good of all humanity.
Over 2,000 delegates pose for a commemorative photo after the opening ceremony of the 225th UN Vesak Celebration.
At the closing ceremony of the 2025 Vesak celebration, Politburo member and Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh emphasized: This year's Vesak celebration was organized with utmost solemnity and reverence, a large-scale and significant international religious and cultural event that was a great success. The 2025 United Nations Vesak celebration in Ho Chi Minh City is a clear milestone, demonstrating the increasingly enhanced role of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in the international Buddhist community and in strengthening dialogue on global issues, preventing conflict, promoting social justice and sustainable development.
- Article by: Son Nghia/ Vietnam Photo News
- Photo: Le Minh/ Vietnam Photo News - Tran The Phong - Tran Tien Dung & VNA archives
Source: https://vietnam.vnanet.vn/vietnamese/long-form/dai-le-vesak-lien-hop-quoc-2025-khang-dinh-nhieu-gia-tri-nhan-van-sau-sac-396917.html
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