Can Tho City: First time holding Ooc Om Boc Festival

Ngo boat race 1 — Can Tho City organizes the Ooc Om Boc Festival - Ngo Boat Racing 2025 with the spirit of "Connecting identity, spreading joy, developing together".

In the joyful and exciting atmosphere after the success of the 1st City Party Congress, term 2025 - 2030, towards the 14th National Party Congress, Can Tho organized the Ooc Om Boc Festival - Ngo Boat Racing 2025 as a regional cultural - sports - tourism highlight with the spirit of "Connecting identity, spreading joy, developing together".

The organizers said that the highlight is the Ngo boat race - a symbol of strength, solidarity and aspiration of the Khmer people. The race takes place on the Maspéro River, Soc Trang Ward, Can Tho City, with the participation of 60 male and female Ngo boat teams from many localities inside and outside the city. This is the most anticipated activity of the Khmer people every year and this is also the Festival recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2022 and set a record by the Vietnam Record Organization for "having the largest number of Ngo boats and athletes".

Ngo boat race 3 — This year's Ngo boat race attracted 60 male and female Ngo boat teams from many localities inside and outside the city.

Along with that is a series of rich activities such as the moon worshiping ceremony held at Khleang Pagoda, Soc Trang Ward, Can Tho City; releasing water lanterns (Loiprotip) and Ca Hau boats; Trade promotion fair of OCOP products of Can Tho City and regional specialties in 2025 with a scale of about 450 booths; food fair, ethnic art performances, Southern cultural space performances, exchanges with Khmer art troupes at home and abroad.

Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Truong Canh Tuyen said: "The festival is an opportunity for Can Tho to affirm its position as the center of the Mekong Delta region - not only in terms of economy but also in terms of culture, tourism and sports, contributing to bringing the image of a dynamic, integrated and richly-identified Can Tho to domestic and international friends."

Mr. Truong Canh Tuyen 1 — Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Truong Canh Tuyen hopes that through the Ooc Om Boc Festival - Ngo Boat Racing, the traditional cultural beauty of the Khmer ethnic group in the city will continue to be promoted.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City also said that in the coming time, the city will continue to invest, plan and support folk cultural activities, linking traditional festivals with tourism development, thereby turning cultural values into important endogenous resources for the socio-economic development of Can Tho in the long term. Contribute to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural beauty of the Khmer ethnic group in the city, especially in festival cultural activities. Respond to the aspirations, needs for cultural and spiritual life of the ethnic groups in the city in general and the Khmer ethnic group in particular.

The leaders of Can Tho City People's Committee hope that the Ooc Om Boc Festival - Ngo Boat Racing will continue to be a bridge of trust, solidarity and national pride, so that every Can Tho citizen can together preserve and spread national cultural values, contributing to building a civilized - modern - affectionate city, worthy of being the center of the Mekong Delta, a place where the quintessence of Southern culture converges and spreads.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/tp-can-tho-lan-dau-chuc-le-hoi-ooc-om-boc-dua-ghe-ngo-10393292.html