Sóc Trăng prepares for Ok Om Bok festival

Two women teams compete at the final of the 2023 Mekong Delta Ngo (Khmer long boat) race in Sóc Trăng Province to celebrate the Ok Om Bok Festival, also called the Festival of Worshipping the Moon. VNA/VNS Tuấn Phi

SÓC TRĂNG — The Cửu Long (Mekong Delta) province of Sóc Trăng has announced plans for the Ok Om Bok Festival, one of three major festivals of the Khmer people in the South.

The Ok Om Bok, also called the Festival of Worshipping the Moon, takes place under the full moon in the 10th lunar month annually when the season changes from the rainy to the dry, and from the growing season to the harvest season.

The annual Mekong Delta Ngo (Khmer long boat) race will be held in November on the Maspero River in Sóc Trăng City.

The event is expected to attract around 60 men and women teams from Sóc Trăng and provinces and cities in the region.

The race will be 1,200 metres for men and 1,000 metres for women.

Last year, the race attracted 40 men and six women teams. The winners were both men and women teams of the Tum Núp Pagoda in Châu Thành District.

As part of the Ok Om Book Festival celebration, Sóc Trăng will host the Culture, Sports and Tourism Week at Bạch Đằng Square, the province’s museum, and the Khmer culture exhibition hall.

The event will include activities to introduce and promote the cultures of ethnic minority groups in the province, such as fashion shows featuring traditional costumes, and traditional music and dance performances.

The highlight of the programme will be a performance of Việt Nam’s largest ngũ âm (five tones) ensemble.

Ngũ âm or Pinpeat is a traditional Khmer musical ensemble that performs ceremonial music at temples and rituals.

The traditional ngũ âm orchestra consists of nine instruments. They are brass, woodwind, and percussion.

Ngũ âm was recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2019.

The event will include the Mekong cuisine festival, a folk game festival, and a light show.

A fair showcasing the province’s OCOP (one commune one product) and tourism products will also be set up.

In addition, Sóc Trăng will hold a performance of floating water lanterns. The act is one of the Khmer people’s rituals of the Ok Om Bok Festival to express gratitude and respect to the gods of earth and water. — VNS