Okombok Festival, Soc Trang

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Okombok Festival, Soc Trang - Photo by An Bui

The festival, which takes place every October 14-15 of the Lunar Year, is one of the southern ethnic Khmer people's most important festivals, involving a thanks-giving ceremony to see off the Water genie. In the first day of the festival, tens of thousands of people from throughout the province gathered near the Long Binh river in Tra Vinh town to encourage boat racing teams from districts in the province as well as from other friendly provinces such as Can Tho, Ca Mau and Vinh Long. "Chhay-dam" drum festival, a special drum dance performed by local amateur artists, was organised at the Ao-Ba Om historical and cultural relic site. Folk games were also held, such as running, tug of war, hurdle races, and stilt walking.