The biggest Ngo boat race in the Mekong Delta begins

At noon on November 4, at the Ngo boat racing grandstand on the Maspéro River, the People's Committee of Can Tho City held the opening ceremony of the 2025 Can Tho City Ngo Boat Racing Tournament.

Thousands of athletes gathered in the grandstands of the Ngo boat race on the Maspéro River for the opening ceremony.

From early morning, thousands of athletes and tens of thousands of locals, tourists, and fans of the traditional Ngo boat racing sport gathered on the Maspéro River, eagerly awaiting the official start of the tournament.

A large crowd of people eagerly awaited the exciting competitions between the Ngo boat teams.

The Can Tho City Ngo Boat Race 2025 will take place over two days (November 4th and 5th) on the race track along the Maspéro River in Can Tho City.

The competition features 61 men's and women's Ngo boat teams from within and outside the city. The teams will compete in two distances: 1,200m for men and 1,000m for women.

Mr. Nguyen Van Khoi, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Van Khoi, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, said that the Ooc Om Boc Festival - Ngo Boat Race is a unique and long-standing traditional cultural feature of the Khmer ethnic group in Southern Vietnam, creating a joyful atmosphere and fostering unity and solidarity among the ethnic groups of the localities in the region.

The Oóc Om Bóc Festival - Ngo Boat Race of the Khmer people has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national intangible cultural heritage , and in 2022, Guinness Vietnam recognized the Guinness Record for "The Oóc Om Bóc Festival - Ngo Boat Race with the largest number of Ngo boats and athletes in Vietnam".

Over 60 Ngo boat teams participated in the race.

According to Nguyen Van Khoi, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, after the merger, Can Tho City has an area of ​​over 6,300 km² and a population of over 3.2 million people.

The city has 27 ethnic minority groups with 494,404 people, accounting for 15.35%, of which the Khmer people number over 411,100, representing 12.76% of the total population.

Can Tho City leaders provide support to Ngo boat teams participating in the competition.

Over the past period, Party committees and authorities at all levels have focused on mobilizing and maximizing the effectiveness of resources to care for the lives and create conditions for ethnic minority people to work and produce with peace of mind.

Many programs and projects, especially the National Target Program for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, Phase I (2021-2025), have become key driving forces, bringing about positive changes in the lives, culture, and society of ethnic minorities.

The first pairs of Ngo boats compete in the season.

With each stroke of the swimmer's paddle, thousands of spectators on the riverbank cheered and encouraged them.

In particular, the Khmer people, with their rich and long-standing cultural traditions and unique characteristics, have been the focus of Can Tho's comprehensive efforts to preserve their tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Specifically, this includes: maintaining regular Khmer language and script classes at Theravada Buddhist temples, ensuring that the language of the Khmer people is passed down from generation to generation; and reviving and developing the distinctive festivals of the Khmer people, as well as other traditional art forms and folk performing arts.

TUAN QUANG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/khoi-tranh-giai-dua-ghe-ngo-lon-nhat-dbscl-post821644.html