VietNamNet Bridge – Thousands of visitors attended the Bay Nui bull race in Tinh Bien district in the southern province of An Giang on October 5.
This was the race among 140 bulls selected from the districts of Tri Ton, Tinh Bien, Chau Thanh, Chau Phu and Thoai Son.
The event was organized during the Dolta Traditional Tet.
The famous bull race held during the annual Dolta Festival in Bay Nui is a unique sport competition reflecting the traditional culture of the Khmer community in An Giang province in southwestern Vietnam.
Unlike a horse or car race where all the competitors start at the same time, a Bay Nui bull race features two pairs of bulls competing directly with each other to see which pair can drag a rake through the field the fastest.
The course itself is nothing more than a 100-150m-long wet field surrounded by boundaries to prevent the bulls from running out and the audience from getting in.
The race has its roots in the local Khmer community’s centuries-old agriculture, when bulls would plough the fields during the rainy season. With time, the race became a traditional event to see who had the best bulls. Buddhist monks served as the organisers of the event and prepared the prizes for the winners.
In 1992, to popularize bull racing and to preserve this special sport, An Giang province decided to inaugurate a traditional Bay Nui Bull Racing Festival at the Luong Phi racetrack in Tri Ton district and the Vinh Trung racetrack in Tinh Bien district. The heads of the villages where racing bulls are bred organize these festivals.
The Dolta Festival takes place as Khmer farmers start planting their autumn-winter crops. The bull racing has made a name for the festival, which brings in thousands of visitors from all over Vietnam and abroad to the That Son area of An Giang province.
According to the agreement between Tri Ton and Tinh Bien districts, the annual Bay Nui bull race will be held in turns in the two districts. This year the race was held in Tri Ton.
The race in photos:
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| Bulls on the race track. |
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| Bull jockeys |
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| A jockey checks his Sàluôl (whip). |
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| The fierce race |
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| An accident |
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| This pair of bulls left the track and rushed into the crowd. |
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| A jockey cools his bull by ice. |
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| Buddhist monks sit on the tower top to watch the race. |
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