The Bay Nui bull racing festival is bustling from 2am

On the morning of September 29, the 29th Bay Nui bull racing festival for the An Giang Television Cup will take place at the Vinh Trung commune bull racing ground, Tinh Bien town, with the participation of 64 pairs of bulls from localities where Khmer ethnic people live in An Giang (Photo: Hai Long).

From 2am, dozens of pairs of oxen from racing teams were brought to the competition ground to prepare for the most anticipated race of the year for the Khmer ethnic people in An Giang (Photo: Hai Long).

Preparing from 2am, Mr. Tran Van Trung (27 years old, Tri Ton district, An Giang province) and his teammates brought the cows early to prepare for the competition.

“This is the 5th time I have participated in this competition, I feel very happy and excited. Before that, I prepared nutritious food for the cows to have the best health. Before the race, every week I also brought the cows to this field to practice, hoping to achieve good results,” Trung shared (Photo: Hai Long).

This is a traditional festival, celebrating the Sene Dolta festival of the Khmer people. This year's bull racing festival attracted 64 pairs of bulls from localities where the Khmer people live, including: Tinh Bien town (30 pairs), Tri Ton district (24 pairs), Chau Thanh district (3 pairs), Chau Phu district (3 pairs), Thoai Son district (2 pairs) and Giang Thanh district, Kien Giang province sent 2 pairs of bulls to participate (Photo: Hai Long).

The racing teams' "bull warriors" are carefully cared for. The bull owners wash their faces with water when it is still dark so that they are alert before the race (Photo: Hai Long).

At dawn, dozens of pairs of oxen were brought by racers to the gathering area near the racetrack to prepare before the opening ceremony (Photo: Hai Long).

Bull racing is not only a sport but also an opportunity to connect the community, preserve traditional culture and create opportunities for people to exchange and learn from each other. The race is often exciting and attractive with many impressive performances from breeders and talented cows (Photo: Hai Long).

The strongest pairs of oxen from communes and districts in An Giang gather at the waiting area next to the racetrack. Behind is Tho Mit Pagoda, one of the famous Khmer pagodas in the area (Photo: Hai Long).

At around 5:30 a.m., more and more competing teams began to flock to the racetrack (Photo: Trinh Nguyen).

Each round of competition has 2 pairs of bulls randomly drawn, competing in a knockout format, selecting the winning pair to move on to the next round (Photo: Trinh Nguyen).

Racing teams pray for good luck at the waiting area and have breakfast before the opening ceremony of the most anticipated bull racing festival of the year in Tinh Bien (Photo: Trinh Nguyen).

“I joined the contest just to bring joy and preserve culture. Before entering the contest, I was a bit worried and nervous,” said Dao Van Huynh (49 years old, Tinh Bien town) (Photo: Trinh Nguyen).

Very early, many local people were present at the competition ground to watch the special competition of 64 pairs of oxen (Photo: Hai Long).

At around 7am, thousands of locals and people from neighboring provinces flocked to watch the bull race. The racecourse was almost full (Photo: Trinh Nguyen).

The opening ceremony and qualifying round of the Bay Nui bull racing festival took place at 8am this morning, the quarter-finals, semi-finals, finals and closing rounds, and the award ceremony took place at 2:30pm the same day at the bull racing ground in Vinh Trung commune, Tinh Bien town, An Giang province (Photo: Hai Long).

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/doi-song/hoi-dua-bo-bay-nui-nhon-nhip-tu-2-gio-sang-20240929081321319.htm