Opening of the Ooc Om Boc Festival - Ngo Boat Racing in Soc Trang, Mekong Delta region

The opening ceremony was held on the evening of November 13. The program opened with special welcoming art performances, imbued with the culture of the 3 ethnic communities (Kinh - Khmer - Hoa) living in Soc Trang.

Through the activities of the Festival, Soc Trang province hopes to leave good feelings in the hearts of delegates and visitors from near and far. Thereby, contributing to the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage values, strengthening national solidarity; strengthening promotion and cooperation to develop tourism. With its existing potential and advantages, Soc Trang province hopes that domestic and foreign businesses and investors will come to Soc Trang to seek investment and cooperation opportunities and develop together.

In recent times, with the attention of leaders at all levels through the periods, Soc Trang province has always maintained and developed the pentatonic orchestras. At the opening ceremony, the Vietnam Record Organization announced the decision to set a record for the performance of Khmer pentatonic music in Soc Trang province with the largest scale in Vietnam, gathering 20 pentatonic orchestras with about 200 actors and musicians participating in the performance. With its typical value, in 2019, the pentatonic music of the Khmer people in Soc Trang was included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Soc Trang is the place that most characteristically shows the imprints of the process of the Kinh, Khmer, and Chinese ethnic groups living together, working together, and overcoming difficulties from the beginning until today. The current heritages in Soc Trang are the precious assets of the process of "Cultural Exchange", in which "Solidarity" is the most important and unique heritage in Soc Trang.

After the ceremony, the delegates enjoyed the art program consisting of 2 chapters: Chapter I - "Convergence of identities" and Chapter II - "Soc Trang - Colorful South". The program had the participation of many artisans, singers, artists, mass art actors, actors of the Khmer Art Troupe of the province and the Cultural Center of Soc Trang province.

The 6th Ooc Om Boc - Ngo Boat Race Festival in Soc Trang, Mekong Delta region and the 1st Soc Trang Culture, Sports and Tourism Week in 2024 are festivals for those flowers with the identity of "solidarity" to shine. Soc Trang people are bustling in the festival, all together raising the sounds of the new day from the range of emotions forged from tradition to introduce, welcome, and invite visitors from all over to the land of Soc Trang with its strong identity in the 2024 Ooc Om Boc - Ngo Boat Race Festival.

After the opening ceremony on the evening of November 13, on November 14 and 15, the Ngo boat racing tournament for men and women will take place on the Maspero River, Soc Trang City. This year's race has 60 Ngo boat teams (53 men's teams and 7 women's teams) competing; of which 48 teams (45 men's teams and 3 women's teams) are from within the province, and 12 teams (8 men's teams and 4 women's teams) are from outside the province (Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Can Tho, Hau Giang, Kien Giang). The men's boat teams compete in a distance of 1,200m. The women's boat teams compete in a distance of 1,000m. The opening ceremony of the Ngo boat racing tournament will take place at noon on November 14, on the Maspero River, Soc Trang City.