A large number of locals and tourists flocked to the 2020 “Nghinh Ong” (Whale Worshiping) Festival which opened in Can Thanh Town, Can Gio District, Ho Chi Minh City, on September 30.
The opening ceremony for the 2020 Can Gio's Whale Worshiping Festival.
The festival features a series of rituals such as a pilgrimage to Rung Sac (Sac Forest) War Martyrs Cemetery to remember the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the country, a rite to pay tribute to the founders of the land, and the whale worshiping ceremony.
At the festival, the locals and visitors will have the chance to participate in various festive activities such as a market introducing specialties of Can Gio District and many other localities, folk games, art performances of don ca tai tu (a traditional musical art form of the south), an art programme for children on the occasion of Mid-Autumn Festival, lion dancing, an artistic kites’ festival and a sports tournament.
The annual festival, which takes place from the fourteenth to sixteenth days of the eighth lunar month, is an opportunity for fishermen to show their respect for whales and their gratitude for a bumper catch.
The event was officially regconised as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2013.
The Can Gio’s Whale Worshiping Festival was later upgraded into a municipal level festival in Ho Chi Minh City in 2017.