Dong Cam Dam Festival

Dong Cam Dam Festival, Phu Yen province Time: 8/1 Lunar calendar Dong Cam Dam Festival is held on January 8 every year to pay tribute to those who contributed and those who sacrificed during the dam construction process. Dong Cam Dam Festival attracts a large number of tourists from near and far to visit and enjoy the spring of the new year.  Dong Cam Dam irrigation project is considered by Phu Yen people as the lifeblood of their homeland, nourishing Tuy Hoa rice fields. Dong Cam Dam was built on Ba River, more than 30km west of Tuy Hoa city. Dong Cam Dam was designed and built by a number of French engineers in 1924, and officially put into use in 1932. The Dong Cam Dam system includes a 680m long lifting dam, two sluice gates to take water into the two main south and north canals over 70km long, and nearly 200km of canals at all levels. There are also more than 1,200 large and small projects on the canal serving water regulation.  The construction process of Dong Cam Dam mobilized over 5,530,000 labor days, with millions of cubic meters of soil, rock, and concrete dug and filled by hand in extremely difficult conditions, in a sacred forest and toxic water environment. The average number of workers mobilized per day is about 1,200 people, including 200 professional workers such as blasters, stone miners, masons and carpenters. The entire Dong Cam Dam was completed with a total cost of 302,620 Indochina VND.  On September 1, 1929, a heartbreaking incident occurred during the construction of Dong Cam Dam. A boat carrying construction workers sank on the Ba River, killing 52 people. In addition, two other workers died while building cofferdams and blasting rock mines. In addition to making an important contribution to agricultural and rural economic development, Dong Cam Dam is also a project with high aesthetic value in addition to historical, economic and tourist significance. Every year, on the 8th day of the first lunar month, Phu Yen province holds an incense offering ceremony to commemorate the ancestors who contributed to building the dam system. Dong Cam Dam Festival is one of the major festivals in Phu Yen.