Tra Vinh and Soc Trang hold exciting Ngo boat racing to celebrate Ok Om Bok Festival

This year's tournament has 9 Ngo boat teams from 8 districts and cities in the province, including: Cang Long, Cau Ngang, Duyen Hai, Tra Cu, Chau Thanh, Tieu Can, Cau Ke, Tra Vinh city and the guest Ngo boat team from Binh Minh town, Vinh Long province.

According to the Organizing Committee, this year's race has expanded its competition content. Ngo boat teams will compete in two distances: 1,000m and 800m for men; 800m for mixed teams. The teams will compete in a knockout format from the qualifying round, semi-finals and finals to determine the champion. The finals and awards ceremony will take place on November 26.

In the final result, the Ngo boat team of Cang Long district excellently won the championship cup in all 3 events: 1,000m men's distance, 800m men's distance, and 800m mixed race. In the 1,000m men's distance, Cau Ke team won second prize and Tra Cu team won third prize; in the 800m men's distance, Chau Thanh team won second prize and Tra Cu team won third prize; in the 800m mixed race, Cau Ke team won second prize, Tieu Can team and Duyen Hai team won third prize.

Mr. Duong Hoang Sum, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tra Vinh province, said that the Ok Om Bok Festival of Tra Vinh province was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a “National Intangible Cultural Heritage”. Ngo boat racing is one of the exciting activities, bearing the traditional beauty of the Khmer people, organized annually by the province at the Ok Om Bok Festival. This is a cultural and sports activity that demonstrates the strength of solidarity and unique culture of the Khmer people in the South in general and Tra Vinh in particular.

Along with the Ngo boat race, at the Ao Ba Om National Historical and Cultural Relic Site, there are also exhibitions, arts and sports activities such as football, volleyball, stick pushing, tug of war, stilt walking, culinary festivals... to serve the Khmer people in the province and tourists during the Southern Culture, Tourism and Culinary Festival Week associated with the Ok Om Bok Festival of Tra Vinh province in 2023 taking place from November 21 to 27.

Also at noon on November 26, at the Ngo boat racing track on the Maspero River, Soc Trang city, hundreds of thousands of people from all over flocked to Soc Trang to watch and cheer for the Ngo boat race of the Khmer people of Soc Trang. This is one of the main activities within the framework of the Ok Om Bok Festival - Ngo Boat Race in Soc Trang in 2023.

Ngo boat racing is a traditional sport of the Khmer people in the South, which has been elevated to a festival by localities. This year's race has 40 male Ngo boat teams and 6 female Ngo boat teams from Ngo boat teams of Khmer pagodas in Soc Trang and the provinces of Bac Lieu, Kien Giang, and Can Tho with over 4,000 athletes participating in the 1,200m (men's race) and 1,000m (women's race) races.

This year's race took place over two days, November 26 and 27. Although this year's competition was held at the provincial level, the Organizing Committee mobilized social resources to award prizes equal to those of the five regional organizations in the Mekong Delta. The first prize for the men's boat is 200 million VND, the second prize is 150 million VND, the third prize is 100 million VND, and the first, second, and third prizes for the women's boat are 150, 120, and 80 million VND, respectively. In addition, each participating team will receive 30 million VND from the Organizing Committee, 10 million VND higher than last year's competition.

Ngo boat racing is the "king" sport of the Khmer people, attracting a lot of audiences inside and outside the province, especially the Khmer people in the Mekong Delta region, so about 1 month before the tournament, the teams practiced very hard.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ms. Huynh Thi Diem Ngoc, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Soc Trang province, said that Ngo boat racing is a traditional sport of the Khmer people, the most anticipated activity during this year's Festival week. This is also a source of cultural pride for the province when the Ngo boat racing festival of the Khmer people in Soc Trang province was included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2022 and has been recognized by the Guinness Vietnam Organization as the sport with the largest number of Ngo boats and athletes in Vietnam since 2005.

On the first day of the tournament, there were 66 races of male and female Ngo boats competing fiercely to select 32 male boat teams and 4 female Ngo boat teams to compete in the knockout, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and championship on November 27.