Go to the plateau to watch the boat race

Da Teh is the only district in Lam Dong province that organizes the annual traditional boat racing tournament in the spring, the tournament gathers racing teams from communes and towns in the area. This is not only a useful sports playground, creating a bustling atmosphere in the first days of the year, but also a unique cultural feature of residents from all regions and areas converging on the land of Da Teh to settle down.

Traditional boat racing tournament of Da Teh district in early spring

The boat racing tournament on Da Ham Lake is a traditional tournament organized by Da Teh district on the 5th day of the Lunar New Year every year, the tournament started to be held since 2006. Over the years, the tournament has been organized more and more professionally in terms of both racing boats and participating athletes. Da Ham Lake is one of the large irrigation lakes in Da Teh district, built since 1995 and has the capacity to irrigate about 500 hectares of rice in An Nhon commune.

Da Ham Lake plays a very important role in implementing high-tech agricultural programs such as building large fields, forming specialized areas for growing sticky rice, a specialty that has been certified as a brand of Da Teh district. Da Ham Lake is also one of the famous scenic relics of Lam Dong province that is known to many people.

According to the ancients, spring is the time of transition between heaven and earth; the boat racing festival is held to pray for a new year of clear rivers and canals, favorable weather, and a prosperous and happy life. During the festival, villages form teams to compete, the first team to reach the finish line will have a very lucky meaning, everything in that year will be favorable, and fortune will be abundant. Therefore, every time Tet comes, spring comes; the people in the district gather at the irrigation dam area to cheer for the racing teams, this is also an opportunity for everyone to show solidarity and aspiration for a new year of peace and success in all work.

Da Teh is a new land, residents from all regions of the country come here to settle down. In addition to the place names imbued with the identity of the Southern Central Highlands such as Da Kho, Da Teh, Da Lay, Da Pal..., it is also associated with the villages and communes of the old hometown such as Quang Tri , Trieu Hai, An Nhon, Quoc Oai, My Duc, Ha Tay... The special thing is that the residents who come here to settle down all come from the countryside with a rich tradition of boat racing and some residents are fishermen on the river.

Among the racing teams, the Quang Tri commune team is quite outstanding because every year the commune has high achievements even though the average age of the team members is over 50. Mr. Truong Chi Dung, Head of Village 1, Quang Tri commune said: The core members of the boat racing team mostly live in the village, the success of the racing team in recent years is because when they were in their hometown, they worked as fishermen on the river, when they came here to make a living, they continued to work on the river so their rowing skills are very proficient. However, the problem of the members' age is quite high, so the big obstacle is the development of the youth team in the future.

According to some famous rowers of Quang Tri commune such as Mr. Nguyen Ba, Nguyen Hung, Ho Viet, Pham Minh Dung..., the development of the young racing team still has some difficulties such as currently the majority of boats are motorized so the skills and endurance of people are somewhat limited. On the other hand, currently the children and young generation go to work far away so it is also difficult to rejuvenate the team.

Or other high-achieving teams such as An Nhon and Da Lay all gather rowers from riverside areas and the localities where they live also organize annual boat racing competitions. According to the People's Committee of Da Lay commune, recently, the racing team has achieved important results, most of the racing team gathers rowers from Thua Thien Hue province. When in their hometown, there were some people who worked as fishermen or lived near rivers and lakes, so their rowing skills were quite proficient. Also according to the People's Committee of Da Lay commune, the biggest difficulty in developing local boat racing is rejuvenating the team.

The boat race in Da Teh district is divided into 2 groups A and B. Each group competes in a qualifying round of 1,500 m to select the 3 teams with the highest results to enter the final round. The final round includes the 6 teams with the highest results from the 2 groups competing in the 1,500 m distance to compete for the championship cup. Each team has 12 registered athletes and 7 official athletes directly competing in the distances.

According to the Culture, Information and Sports Center of Da Teh district, the boat racing tournament is held annually, so it attracts a large number of racing teams and a large number of people to watch and cheer. The teams include Da Teh town, Quang Tri commune, Da Kho commune, Da Lay commune, My Duc commune, An Nhon commune, Trieu Hai commune, Da Pal commune, and Quoc Oai commune. To maintain and develop the boat racing tournament, Da Teh district has provided support for localities to build racing boats, and communes and towns are responsible for preserving, maintaining, and repairing them.

Going up to the plateau, tourists not only get to see the majestic mountain scenery but also learn about the special boat racing festival that only exists in Da Teh, which is a very unique feature of this mountainous district. In order for the traditional boat racing to develop more professionally, in addition to supporting vehicles, the locality also needs to pay attention to the human factor, especially young athletes to continue the tradition.

Source: http://baolamdong.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202408/len-cao-nguyen-xem-dua-thuyen-9fd034f/