Held at the provincial level for the first time in 2000, on the occasion of the Canh Thin Spring Festival, the dugout canoe race on the Dak Bla River has become a traditional festival celebrating the Party and the Spring every year in Kon Tum province. From a long-standing normal activity in the life and production of local ethnic minorities, the dugout canoe race has left its own mark, bearing the cultural and sports identity of the Northern Central Highlands, not only attracting the attention of the people in the province, but also inviting tourists from near and far.
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| Dak Bla River Dugout Canoe Racing Festival SpringDinhDau |
After many years of studying and working in Ho Chi Minh City, in recent years, when he has the opportunity to return to his hometown to reunite and celebrate the New Year with his family, every year, Mr. Le Hong Vinh in residential group 7, Thang Loi ward also takes the time to watch the dugout canoe racing festival on the Dak Bla River. "The Dak Bla River is so close and familiar, and witnessing the exciting race of strong and determined rowers, what could be more interesting?" - Mr. Vinh shared.
The special terrain of the mountains divides, forming the Dak Bla, Se San, Po Ko, Dak S' Nghe rivers... flowing through Kon Tum province. Since ancient times, rowing dugout canoes has been a daily activity in the production and living life of residents along the river. Associated with the people's life based on nature, dugout canoes are handcrafted from large, long-lived trees. Carrying people, agricultural tools, and production means back and forth between the two banks to plant crops, and at the same time transporting rice, corn, and cassava home, dugout canoes are like close companions of everyone. The scale and size of dugout canoes are also a measure of the family background, wealth, and stability of each family.
Not only is it a means closely associated with the life of labor and production, the formation and development of dugout canoes also contains the beauty of national culture and is associated with the spirituality of the small population living along the river. In the past, after a prosperous harvest, small but exciting and joyful boat races were organized by villages and hamlets, also to celebrate the new rice and welcome the new year. There, young men had the opportunity to compete and show off; to see who was stronger, more resilient, and more skillful in controlling the boat through the waves.
According to Mr. Vo Tan Long - Former Director of the Provincial Department of Sports and Physical Training, based on the actual production and living activities of ethnic minorities along the river in Kon Tum province, the provincial sports sector has organized a dugout canoe racing tournament and identified it as a traditional annual sports activity at the beginning of the new spring, considering it a typical cultural and sporting feature of the northernmost land of the Central Highlands. The annual tournament also aims to exploit and promote the national cultural identity in today's life. Fortunately, from the first race until now, after nearly 20 years of maintenance, the dugout canoe racing festival to celebrate the Party and welcome Spring every year has proven its strength, attracting more and more people to watch and cheer" - Mr. Long excitedly said.
In the first years of organization, the traditional dugout canoe racing tournament on the Dak Bla River of Kon Tum province was held periodically on the occasion of the New Year every year from the 4th to the 6th of Tet, in recent years, it is usually on the 4th of Tet. On average, each year, it attracts 35-40 racing boats and 80-90 athletes to participate; the racing festival takes place in an exciting and jubilant atmosphere with the determination of the racers and the enthusiastic cheers of the spectators. The racing festival also inevitably depends on natural conditions and weather. Some years have little rain, the rainy season ends early, the water level of the Dak Bla River is low, there are times when the wind is strong, the sun is harsh... posing no small challenges for the young and strong rowers; at times like that, the atmosphere of the racing festival becomes more dramatic, exciting, attractive, and captivating.
During the dugout canoe racing festival to celebrate the spring of Dinh Dau 2017, the young man A Luoi in Sa Binh commune, Sa Thay district could not remember how many times he won first prize in the 100m individual distance. A Luoi confided: Rowing a boat across the river to go to the fields and forests is normal, strength or weakness is not important; But to race with your brothers, to participate in the race for everyone to have fun, you not only need to be healthy, but also need to practice to row quickly and well. Having strength but not knowing how to row, control the boat, it will take a long time to bring the boat to the finish line.
The traditional dugout canoe racing festival to celebrate the Party and welcome spring in Kon Tum province not only attracts the participation and cheering of many local people, but also attracts many tourists from near and far during the New Year. This is also one of the attractive connecting points in the tours to the young city on the Dak Bla River in early spring.
Currently, there are not many dugout canoes left, the ability to manufacture this traditional means of water transport is increasingly narrowed due to the scarcity of raw materials, the preservation of old boats is of special concern to the people. Good rowing and good boat racing are the results of the efforts of young people to learn, practice and cultivate from their predecessors, creating a bond from one generation to another, so that the beauty of dugout canoe racing will forever be imprinted in the cultural life of the community, and will be the pride of the ethnic minority residents along the river in Kon Tum province./.