The ghe ngo race, one of the most attractive events at the Oóc Om Bóc Festival in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Sóc Trăng. — Photo dulichsoctrang.org

SÓC TRĂNG — The fourth traditional Oóc Om Bóc Festival in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta will take place from November 5 to 11 in Sóc Trăng, the province People’s Committee has announced.

The event is one of the three largest celebrated every year by the Khmer people living in the southern region, the others being Chôl Chnăm Thmây and Sene Đôlta.

It will feature a series of cultural, art and sporting activities, including the Khmer worshipping the moon at a ceremony and a sparkling lantern ceremony followed by a ghe ngo (long boat) race to revere water deities. 

The ghe ngo race on the Maspero River on November 10 and 11, one of the most attractive events at the festival, will comprise a 1,200m race for men and a 1,000m race for women.

This year, the race has attracted more than 40 men’s and seven women’s teams from the provinces of Sóc Trăng, Bạc Liêu, Cà Mau, Hậu Giang, Vĩnh Long, Trà Vinh, and Kiên Giang.

There will also be traditional dancing and music, a Khmer traditional dress show and a street food fair.

Ngô Hùng, deputy chairman of the province People’s Committee, said the annual festival helps preserve and promote the traditional cultural identity of the Khmer.

It also enables the province to introduce its culture and people to Vietnamese and overseas visitors, he added.

The seven-day festival's main activities and moon worship rituals are on full moon day, the 14th of the 10th lunar month, when the rainy season ends and the dry season starts.

It is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors. — VNS