The annual Cau Ngu (Fish Worshipping) Festival for fishermen in Son Tra District is taking place at the Whale Temple in the district’s Man Thai Ward until today (23 February).

Yesterday, various solemn traditional rituals were held at the temple, attracting a great deal of attention from locals and visitors.

In the early morning, a group of local residents took part in a procession to deliver a funeral oration from the district’s Tan Thai Village Communal House to the temple.  The procession included flag bearers, members of a ‘ba trao’ (dancing and singing local traditional folk songs) team, senior male residents in ‘ao dai’ (Vietnamese traditional long dress) and ‘khan dong’ (turban), with some of their acolytes in blue ‘ao dai’, and 4 local men carrying an eye-catching palanquin.

The main traditional ritual at the temple was a funeral oration-reading ceremony to honour the merits and virtues of the whale, and to show the local fishermen's strong desire for peaceful offshore fishing trips with bumper catches.  It was followed by an interesting Tuong (classical drama) performance by artistes from the Nguyen Hien Dinh Tuong Theatre.

In addition, various exciting competitions were held, including fishing net knitting, tug-of-war, football, ‘bai choi’ (singing while acting as playing cards), ‘ba trao’, rod-pushing, and coracle racing, along with beach football and volleyball.  There were also stalls introducing and selling local seafood products from the local fishermen.

Here are some photos, taken by our reporter Ngoc Ha, which show highlights from the festival.

The procession to deliver the funeral oration

At the Whale Temple

A main traditional ritual to honour the merits and virtues of the whale

A drumming ceremony to start the ‘Tuong’ performance

The start of a coracle race

The net-knitting competition

A ‘bai choi’ performance

A stall offering local seafood products