Khmer people’s Ok Om Bok festival opens in Tra Vinh

To celebrate the festival, part of the national intangible cultural heritage, a wide range of activities are taking place, including a cultural and tourism week, a festival featuring the southern region’s delicacies, an exhibition on the Mekong Delta’s tourism, an agricultural product fair, a Khmer costume contest, along with traditional sports activities.

Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Duong Hoang Sum said apart from helping with the preservation and promotion of Khmer people’s culture, the event, scheduled to last through October 31, is also an occasion to introduce local people and tourism potential to visitors, enhance the province’s tourism links with other localities, and attract investment in tourism.

The Ok Om Bok (moon worshipping) is one of the three main festivals, along with Sene Dolta and Chol Chnam Thmay, that Khmer people celebrate every year. It often takes place around the full-moon period of the 10th lunar month, after the harvest season.

Khmer people believe the moon is a god who controls the weather and crops. The worship aims to thank the moon for granting them good weather and bumper harvests, and to pray for better crops in the following year.

Tra Vinh is home to nearly 330,000 Khmer people who account for 31% of its population.