Can Tho City: First-ever Ooc Om Boc Festival

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

In the joyful and enthusiastic atmosphere following the success of the First City Party Congress, term 2025-2030, and in anticipation of the 14th National Party Congress, Can Tho is organizing the Ooc Om Boc Festival - Ngo Boat Race 2025 as a regional cultural, sports , and tourism highlight with the spirit of "Connecting identities, spreading joy, and developing together".

The organizers stated that the highlight is the Ngo boat race – a symbol of the strength, solidarity, and aspiration of the Khmer people. The race takes place on the Maspéro River in Soc Trang Ward, Can Tho City, with the participation of 60 men's and women's Ngo boat teams from various localities within and outside the city. This is the most anticipated annual event for the Khmer people, and it is also the festival recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2022 and recognized by the Vietnam Record Organization for having the "largest number of Ngo boats and athletes".

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

Alongside this are a series of rich activities such as the moon worship ceremony held at Khleang Pagoda, Soc Trang Ward, Can Tho City; releasing water lanterns (Loiprotip) and Ca Hau boats; the Can Tho City OCOP product and regional specialty trade promotion fair in 2025 with approximately 450 booths; a food fair, folk art performances, Southern cultural space presentations, and exchanges between Khmer art troupes from within and outside the country.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, 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 culture, tourism and sports, contributing to bringing the image of Can Tho as a dynamic, integrated and distinctive city to friends at home and abroad."

Ong Truong Canh Tuyen 1 — Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, Truong Canh Tuyen, expressed his hope that the Ooc Om Boc Festival - Ngo Boat Race would further promote the beautiful traditional culture of the Khmer ethnic people in the city.

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

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

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