Nghinh Ong Festival in Ca Mau

Cà Mau, a maritime province located at the end of an S – shaped country Vietnam, always turns animated when it comes to February in the lunar calendar. Its citizens spend totally three days of 14^th, 15^th and 16^th of the month to celebrate Nghinh Ông Festival, which literally serves the meaning of “welcoming the God of Whale with high regards”.

Nghinh Ông is a national folk festival created by the Cham people erstwhile and inherited by Vietnamese from generation to generation. It is held with a view to commemorating merits brought by the whales in saving sailormen from drowning in the storms.

Feb 15^th is the main celebration day. Everything gets started at 14:00. The host of the ceremony solemnly places an incensory into a palanquin which is carried by 8 girls from a temple to the bank of a river. These appointed girls are usually descended from Fishermen families. Along the way, people will accompany after the parade while there are hundreds of fishing boats already berthing around the wharf waiting.

Once again, with the biggest and most splendid boat prepared, to which the host carries the incensory by himself. This boat will be the leader followed by many others to the sea. From afar, one can witness an extremely vivid atmosphere with a beautiful sound coming from the waves crashing onto the boats’ sides, engine and shouts of cheers, along with thousands of audience dressed up in colorful outfits gathering around.

On the way of the parade, in case a whale spraying water out, then the boats must head back to the shore, or else they will keep moving ahead to the open sea, mostly one to two nautical miles offshore and the host is going to pray and make obeisance.

Just like many other provinces, Nghinh Ông Festival is celebrated for the purpose of worship the whales and prayers for calm sea – with gentle waves and prosperity in fishing. This is a well-attracted event with a large number of attendants every year, not only those living in Cà Mau but also people from neighboring cities as well. Moreover, those fishermen who are working along the Central coastline of Vietnam still pay a visit to the end of the country during this important occasion.