Ok Om Bok is now a popular festival celebrated not only in Soc Trang but also in other Mekong Delta provinces of Vinh Long, Tra Vinh, Can Tho,Kien Giang and An Giang. In the Khmer belief, the Moon Goddess is theone who cares for the crops, aquatic sources and human life. Alsocalled Festival of Worshipping the Moon, the Ok Om Bok Festival of eachvillage takes place on the yard of a local pagoda, and the wholeprovince’s Ok Om Bok Festival takes place at Ba Om Pond. The festivalis one of the three typical festivals of the Khmer in the circle of oneyear.

Interesting traditional activities...

Duringfull-moon the night, Khmer family members gather in front of thecommunal pagoda or their houses and prepare a special feast with greenrice flakes, ripe bananas, fresh peeled coconuts and mangoes to offerto the moon. When the God Moon rises, the offering ceremonybegins with all family members sitting flat on the ground and claspingtheir hands in wait for the moon to rise. An elderly man expressestheir gratitude to the moon and prays for continued good crops and goodhealth. They prayed to the Moon for bumper harvests all the year round,prosperity and happiness. A jubilant atmosphere prevailed over thecelebration sites where large members of people gathered to enjoy folkart performances, including floating flames, flying balloons, and Khmerstage arts of Du Ke and Ro Bam. Then, the village elders will pick uphandfuls of “com dep” to put into the children’s mouths with a wish fortheir strong eating and rapid development (the word Ok om bok literallymeans eating “com dep” by picking up it and put into the mouth). After

The night becomes more exciting with ethnic games and traditional fashion shows.Some join a contest of flying lanterns and silently contemplate thecolors. A flying lantern is made with a bamboo frame pasted with paper.A tinder is tied under the frame then fired, which makes the lanternfly high in the air. The flying lantern rises higher and higher in amysterious and romantic breeze as if bringing the hopes and beliefs ofthe Khmer people to the Moon God, who is tucking up the clouds to lookdown at the earth. At Ba Om Pond, the ritual of the flying-lanternrelease has become an exciting contest with the participation of tensof pagodas in the province under the encouragement of tens of thousandsof festival participants.

Theevent also features water-lanterns made from bamboo and paper in theshape of a boat with colorful decorations. People make a line with adrum band ahead, whisper their prayers to God and gently droppaper-boats on the water. The river is indulged in peaceful andfanciful scenery. This is also the traditional time for couples to prayfor their love and destiny. The festival celebrations also includedtraditional Khmer rituals and special performances by art troupes fromother provinces. People also flocked to downtown Soc Trang for shoppingat trade fairs and watching traditional sports and games.

Really interesting and meaningful, Ok Om Bok Festival is the most imposing festival in Mekong Delta. Once taking part in, and you will realize...