Bay Nui Cow Racing Festival

The cows are trying their best to race along, and behind them there are commanders. Is a festival of Khmer ethnic people, Southern. Bold with the folklore identity, including the traditional racing festival is a unique cultural and sports activities in Bay Nui and An Giang areas.

The cow racing festival is held at the "Don Ta" ceremony (worshiping the grandparents), from the 9 to 10th of the lunar calendar every year. "Don-Ta" is one of the traditional major festivals of the Khmer to express the memory and gratitude to the ancestors and the merits of the deceased.

In the past, in the season of rice production on the rice field, ethnic minority people in Tinh Bien - Tri Ton often organized a cow racing festival. The harvest (dry season) often has a cow racing (a pair of cows dragging a small wheel) on the land. The transplanting season (rainy season) often races crawling indiscriminately on the above field. Each year, the season of transplanting many Khmer farmers from phum and squirrels plowed to plow the fields for the temple. On that occasion, they invited each other to race the cows, gradually becoming practical and were organized by the whole temple, awarded the reward for the victories and from there the seven mountain cow racing became the annual traditional cow racing festival of the Khmer people.

An Giang, the land has many historical sites, landscapes and festivals imbued with folklore identity. In all the festivals of the Khmer ethnic people in the Seven Nui - An Giang region, the cow racing festival is one of the festivals that are most admired by relatives. When the upstream of the Mekong River flocked to bring alluvium to the Mekong Delta, it was also the time when the Khmer ethnic people were excited to welcome the Dol-Ta ceremony and the joy of the traditional New Year of the Khmer people in general and An Giang in particular, it was also multiplied because on this Tet holiday, it was a special traditional festival, which is the Seven Mountains' Sports Festival- Two mountainous districts of Tri Ton and Tinh Bien An Giang province.

Organize traditional cow racing associations. To prepare for the race, they choose a flat field, about 200 m long, 100 m wide with tattoo water, "axis" many times to have slippery mud, four sides have a cover and the target point with an empty road to make a safe stop for cows. The main track only takes 120m in the field close to the banks. The starting place is plugged in 2 green and red flags each 5m apart, and so is the destination. What color of the cow standing in the position of the flag, the target score is also according to the color of that flag.

Before entering the race, they chose each pair of crawls together or draw and agreed on some necessary rules as who would go first, go later ... but usually the couple after the more advantage. If during the race, the pair of cows running out of the race will be eliminated and the back of the cow steps on the harrowing of the previous pair of cows. And the driver must stand firmly if he falls or falls out of the harrowing rig as losing.

Each pair of cows is yoke into a special indiscriminate, harrowing is a springboard including a 30 cm wide wooden pan The driver holds a whip whip or a round wooden piece that has 3 cm hands, the head has a pointed nail - a bar -lul tree. At the beginning of the referee's departure command, the operator strongly injected the beam into the buttocks, the cow was quickly painful to move forward, it is important to give them both of them, the speed of the new cows is fierce and attractive. This is different from horse racing in that each person rides a child, who will win first.

According to the concept of the people in the Seven Nui region, the cow race has a very special meaning. The cow race won a high prize in the year not only gives the owner of the pride of the cow that I bring to Phum squirrel a joy, an energy to win many victories in other areas, such as the healthy cow of Phum with toughness, plowing well, helping people to plant easily, bring a bumper season, warm villagers.