Chroi Rum Chek Festival of the Khmer people is a national intangible cultural heritage.

Secretary of Vinh Chau Town Party Committee Duong Sa Kha (left cover) and Vice Chairman of Soc Trang Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Khoi (right cover) presented the Certificate of Chroi Rum Chek Festival (Phuoc Bien) being included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Motivation for Khmer people to preserve cultural identity

On the evening of March 12, the People's Committee of Vinh Chau town, Soc Trang province held the opening ceremony of the Chroi Rum Chek Festival (Phuoc Bien Festival) of the local Khmer people. Attending the event were Mr. Duong Sa Kha - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Secretary of Vinh Chau Town Party Committee; Mr. Nguyen Van Khoi - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Soc Trang province; representatives of leaders of departments, branches and local people.

At the opening ceremony, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the Decision and Certificate of National Intangible Cultural Heritage for the Chroi Rum Chek Festival (Phuoc Bien Festival) of the Khmer people in Vinh Chau town.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr. Son Po, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Soc Trang, affirmed: Chroi Rum Chek Festival (Phuoc Bien) is a treasure trove of intangible cultural heritage reflecting the customs, habits, beliefs... of the local community, becoming a cultural and tourism product with typical characteristics of Soc Trang province. Through the Festival, promote local specialties such as: Purple onions, white radish, pickled radish...

According to Mr. Son Po, preserving and maintaining the Festival's activities is a message to all future generations to always reflect, practice and strive to learn, increase awareness and take action to protect, build and promote the cultural values ​​of the nation.

“The Phuoc Bien Festival in Vinh Chau town plays a very important role in the economic, cultural, social, and educational life... encouraging people to live a good and beautiful life to improve themselves, exchange cultures of ethnic groups, promote local tourism, and preserve national cultural identity,” said Mr. Son Po.

Mr. Son Bat - member of the Management Board of Serây Cro Sang Pagoda, Ward 2, Vinh Chau Town, Soc Trang Province, excitedly said: Buddhists of Serây Cro Sang Pagoda, people of the three ethnic groups are very happy, very excited, very glad. This festival has been around for hundreds of years, now it has become a national intangible cultural heritage, so Buddhists, monks, and people of the three ethnic groups are very happy and excited.

Buddha statue procession, ritual in Chroi Rum Chek Festival of Khmer people

The "thread" that binds the community

The Chroi Rum Chek Festival is preserved and passed down through many generations. Every year, the festival takes place from the 14th to the 15th of Khe-phol-kun (according to the Khmer calendar). The festival has the unique features of the festivals at communal houses and temples in the South.

The festival is meant to pray for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather, for sailors to have smooth sailing, catch lots of seafood, and to thank the ocean for giving lots of shrimp and fish, and the alluvial land for giving bountiful harvests, bringing a prosperous and happy life to the land and people of Vinh Chau. With spiritual belief in the Whale God (the god who protects the people of the sea), they believe that if the Whale God cannot save the victims, they will be "in debt", so when a dead Whale washes ashore, the people in the area pray and perform traditional rituals to bury it.

As a "thread" connecting the community, solidarity, love and mutual assistance of ethnic groups in Vinh Chau town, the Chroi Rum Che Festival brings profound humanistic values, helping people move towards the values ​​of truth - goodness - beauty.

This year, the Chroi Rum Chek Festival takes place from March 12 to 14, with two main parts: the ceremony and the festival. The ceremony with rituals is solemnly and respectfully organized by monks and the Management Board of Serây Cro Sang Pagoda.

The ceremony began with a memorial service, remembering the ancestors, thanking the sea and praying for the best things to come to the villagers. At the same time, rituals were performed to pray to the Triple Gem, pray for national peace and prosperity, and monks gave sermons.

After the traditional ceremonies are fun and entertainment activities. The festival includes folk games such as volleyball, tug of war, sack jumping and especially the purple onion tying contest, a specialty of Vinh Chau. In the evening, there is also a contest for “Beautiful singing voice, beautiful dancing couple and Khmer costume performance”.

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/le-hoi-chroi-rum-chek-cua-dong-bao-khmer-la-di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia-1741850804562.htm