Boat Race Festival is one kind of sport festival that takes place to pray for favorable weather, is held annually in lunar calendar of 2nd to 7th Jannuary in Lien Chieu District.

According to old people story, they used to hold the boat racing festival on the first day of spring for canalizing rivers with the desire to pray for good weather. According to popular conception, boat racing is an opportunity to please the mountain and water gods who bless the villages are  peaceful.  The racing winner is the pride of the villagers that will bring hope about much luck and prosperity in the upcoming seasons. For a very long time, even in the fiercest period of the war or in peacetime, boat racing has become common activity in the early days of a year in Lien Chieu district, Danang city.

Before each boat racing,  villages bustled to prepare and practice. The local people as usual gather to discuss about the preparation process of the festival since one earlier week of the given day that the festival is held.

They will pick up a group of young men from 18 to 35 years old who are the strongest and most flexible men in each village. Each team for racing is including 30 people from the village.

In recent years, Lien Chieu district increasingly maintain this kind of traditionally cultural activity on Cu De river. From an only spontaneous activity, the festival nowadays is held by the local government, the boat team from other villages are simultaneously invited to attend the festival that play an important role to make a more colourful festival.

In the predawn of the festival, when the elders in the hamlet together with the most healthy-looking young men come to the river burning incense to pray for a good weather season, the two sides of the river had tumultuous with human voice. People from the region of Thuy Tu, Kim Lien, Nam O, etc have to wake up very early to come here and looking for themselves the most convenient place to watch the race.

When the order for beginning has just launched, the boat rushed up ahead, two sides of Cu De river burst in the cheering and the sound of drums, wooden bell. Thousands of eyes glued to the surface of the river to follow the race. At that time, the river suddenly simmering by dozens of boats decorated as a forest of colorful flowers on the water that try all their best to move strongly award.

Boat Race Festival is a unique beauty that is especial characteristic of the people live in waterways area, creats a part of Vietnamese cutural identity and impresses into one’s mind when they are far from their hometown.

Source vietnamguidenews