Vinh Long bustling Ok Om Bok festival

People enjoy the Sa Dam drum dance performance by the community dance team of Chau Thanh commune, Vinh Long province. — People enjoy the Sa Dam drum dance performance of the Chau Thanh commune community dance team, Vinh Long province.

These days, Khmer people in the province are very happy and excited with the activities of the Cultural and Tourism Week associated with the Ok Om Bok Festival in 2025. This is also an opportunity for people to have fun, entertain, and connect with the community and hamlets.

The village is bustling and prosperous.

Mr. Thach Danh, residing in Hoa Lac A hamlet, Song Loc commune, said, “In the past, my family was in a difficult situation with housing. In 2025, Mr. Danh’s family received 60 million VND from the budget of the program to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses launched by the Government to build a spacious and solid house.

Excited to welcome the Ok Om Bok Festival in his new house, Mr. Danh shared that this is a very meaningful gift, showing the Party and State's concern for people with housing difficulties. Now, my family has a stable place to live, has more motivation to overcome difficulties, and build a prosperous and happy life.

The pagoda is a place of religious and community activities for the Khmer people in Vinh Long province.

According to Mr. Nguyen Khanh Hoa, Chairman of the People's Committee of Long Hiep commune, the commune has a population of 32,425 people, of which the Khmer ethnic group accounts for 80.6% of the population, benefiting from programs and projects for ethnic minority areas, with irrigation, electricity, and traffic infrastructure being invested in and completed, and the rural appearance improving.

Reorganizing production and developing the rural economy, the commune has deployed many effective agricultural production models that adapt to climate change such as: Low-emission rice cultivation, chili pepper cultivation in greenhouses, associated with contracts for agricultural output; raising goats and cows for breeding;...

A typical example is Thanh Cong Agricultural Cooperative, which attracts 51 members, mainly Khmer people. Every year, the cooperative purchases 40 hectares of chili peppers for its members and farmers in the commune, with prices ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 VND/kg. Currently, the cooperative has also been granted a growing area code certificate to export chili peppers to the European market.

Every year, the commune has an area of over 1,000 hectares of crops rotated to the rice fields, mainly corn, peanuts, and chili peppers. The locality is actively mobilizing farmers to join cooperatives and cooperatives to produce safe, organic vegetables, associated with the purchase of agricultural products. Thanks to that, the average income per capita of the commune has reached 70.6 million VND/year, and the number of poor households has been reduced to less than 2.5%.

Ms. Thach Thi Thu Ha, Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions of the province, said that the Khmer people in the province are about 310,000 people, accounting for more than 8% of the population. The province has basically solved the shortage of residential land, housing, and water for ethnic minorities, and good traditional cultural values have been preserved and promoted.

In addition, ethnic minorities in the province have always actively responded to patriotic emulation movements, poverty eradication, and the construction of civilized and modern rural areas. Thanks to that, the poverty rate among Khmer people has been reduced to 1.6%, and near-poor to 3.2%.

Heritage conservation linked to tourism development

Ok Om Bok Festival, or the flat rice festival, is held during the moon worshiping ceremony, so it is also called the Moon Worshiping Festival, taking place on the full moon day of the 10th lunar month every year. Notably, Ok Om Bok Festival is included in the list of national intangible heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In the cultural and spiritual life of the Khmer people in the South, the Moon God is worshiped by every family, community and hamlet. At the end of the harvest season, people hold a moon worship ceremony to express their gratitude to the god of nature for helping to protect the crops, regulate the weather, and bring prosperity.

Ngo boat racing takes place on Long Binh river, Long Duc ward.

The Culture and Tourism Week, associated with the Ok Om Bok Festival this year, was organized by the province from October 30 to November 5, with many exciting activities such as musical instrument performance competitions, traditional Khmer costumes; display of Southern folk cakes; Ok Om Bok festival night.

The festival was exciting, joyful, united, with many contents, the most attractive was the Ngo boat race held on Long Binh river, Long Duc ward, with the participation of 18 male and mixed male-female boat teams from localities in the province. After 2 days of competition, the Ngo boat teams brought to the fans exciting and dramatic races with 27 exciting matches.

Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Van, a tourist from Xuan Hoa ward, Ho Chi Minh City, excitedly said, “Coming to the Ok Om Bok Festival in Tra Vinh, Nguyet Hoa, Long Duc wards, my family was able to learn about the Khmer people's life, enjoy the national cultural heritage and immerse themselves in the fresh nature. Here, my family members had very interesting experiences about the nature, culture and people of Vinh Long province.

Ok Om Bok Festival takes place at the scenic Ba Om pond, Nguyet Hoa ward.

According to Mr. Duong Hoang Sum, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the province, the direction that Vinh Long province has chosen to attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists is to persistently and persistently propagate and promote national cultural values through each event and festival activity, especially, strengthening connections and cooperation to develop tourism with regional characteristics.

In the coming time, the province will focus on developing eco-tourism, traditional cultural tourism, Khmer ethnic cultural identity, smart and green sea tourism. Continue to launch new and attractive tourism products based on heritage values, at the same time, focus on training human resources, encourage local communities to participate in tourism activities, create sustainable livelihoods, and improve the lives of people in ethnic minority areas.

MINH KHOI

Source: https://nhandan.vn/vinh-long-ron-rang-le-hoi-ok-om-bok-post920736.html