July 08, 2017 | 19:28 (GMT+7)
Ok Om Bok Festival to honor cultural heritage of Khmer people
PANO – The Ok Om Bok Festival of the Vietnamese Khmer ethnic group will be held from October 28 to November 3 by the Soc Trang provincial People’s Committee, announced the provincial Department of Information and Communications at a press conference on July 7.
The festival features a Moon worshiping ceremony, contests, street festivals, folk games, artistic performances, a photo exhibition, and a cuisine festival.
60 teams to join the boat race
These activities aim to honor traditional cultural heritage of the Khmer people, raise public awareness of preserving tangible and intangible heritage, promote unity among people of different ethnic groups in Vietnam, and to turn the Ooc Om Bok into a culture and tourism event of the locality.
The highlight of the event is a Ghe Ngo (Khmer Boat) Race on November 2 and 3 with the participation of 60 teams from Soc Trang and neighboring provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region. The men’s teams will compete in 1,200-meter race, while women’s teams join the 1,000-meter race.
Winning female and male teams will be awarded VND 100 million and VND 150 million, respectively.
Translated by Tran Hoai