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Traditional Festivals in Mekong Delta- MEKONG ECO TOUR

Traditional Festivals in Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Mekong Delta is actually a deserving travel destination in the southwest Vietnam thanks to its tranquility and unspoiled beauty. Nonetheless, to be able to experience a Mekong Delta day trip or a Mekong Delta tour in the season of some following festivals in Mekong Delta is clearly lucky, which will get you absorbed so much. Let’s see how awesome those festivals are!

Coconut Offerings Festival (Thac Con Festival) – Soc Trang Province

When it comes to the traditional festivals in Mekong Delta, as children of the water area, local people here never forget to tell you about Coconut Offerings Festival, held in the 15th day of the second lunar month every year. The event takes place in An Hiep Commune, Chau Thanh District, and its most prominent feature is that offerings are flower vases made from coconut fruits. Besides, there are also fresh sweet, fruits, and flowers. All represent the locals’ wishes of happiness, peace, luck, good harvest, and prosperity. If you are lucky to arrive in Soc Trang right in the season of Coconut Offerings Festival, you will surely grab the interesting and valuable understanding of culture and belief of the Delta region in Vietnam.

Ok Om Bok Festival

 

One of the best festivals in Mekong Delta, which should be comprised in your Mekong Delta day trip is Ok Om Bok. This festival is always expected by lots of people through the Khmer community. In the 14th and 15th days of the 10th lunar month every year, local people will worship the Moon in front of their houses, and then gather at the pagoda for the last ceremony. That’s the reason why they call Ok Om Bok as the Moon worshipping ceremony. The most stimulating and attractive programs of the event are wooden boat racing, dropping paper lanterns into the water, and traditional dances of the Khmer people.

Cow Racing Festival

Cow Racing Festival is referred to as the most renowned festival of An Giang Province and annually held from August 19th to September 1st in the lunar calendar with the purpose of commemorating the locals’ ancestors and showing the grace to them. The festival takes place in Thamit Pagoda and Ta Miet Pagoda and attracts plenty of both domestic and international travelers. During the racing day, there will be pairs of cows picked out to compete with each other; the biggest challenge for the cows is that they need to run through the muddy rice field and reach the target first. More importantly, the controller must manage to keep the same speed for the pair of his cows during the race. It will open your mind when you directly immerse yourself into this festival.

Chol Chnam Thmay Festival

For a Mekong Delta tour, there will be a special festival of Khmer people, you ought to join; it is called Cholchnam Thmay. Pronouncing its name is very difficult for even Vietnamese. However, if you have ever known about the Tet holiday – a traditional holiday of the majority of Vietnamese people (Kinh people), Cholchnam Thmay will not be strange at all. Why? Because its meaning is the same to that of the Tet holiday; in this occasion, Khmer people will be out of work and do entertaining activities, such as cooking “banh chung” (a kind of traditional cake in the Tet holiday), preparing fruits and flowers to worship the Buddha, and decorating their houses with many different colors. How fantastic the festival of the water area is!