Local people launch candle-lit balloons during the Ok Om Bok festival. — Photo namphuongtourist.com

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has added the Ok Om Bok (moon worship to wish for a prosperous harvest) festival to the national intangible cultural heritage list.

The annual traditional festival, celebrated by the Khmer group in the southern province of Tra Vinh, is held on a full-moon night in the 10th lunar month at Ba Om Pond in Tra Vinh City. Besides a solemn worship ceremony at night, there is a ‘wind lights' [candle-lit balloons] setting contest. The local people hope that the balloons would fly high and reach the moon to tell the moon god to help them realise their dreams.

Prior to this, a boat-racing event is often organised in the local river, where the people compete in teams to show their solidarity.

The province's My Long sea worship festival, the local art of don ca tai tu (southern folk music) and Cham Rieng-Cha Pay (the art of singing and playing Cha Pay, a two-stringed instrument) of the Khmer group are already on the national cultural heritage list. — VNS