People in Phuoc Thien village of Binh Hai commune, Quang Ngai province’s Binh Son district and neighboring localities on March 13-14 gathered at Phuoc Thien temple to celebrate the traditional whale worshipping festival and boat racing.
Elders in the village perform worshipping ritual
Traditionally, Phuoc Thien is a fishing village in Binh Hai commune. The traditional whale worshipping festival and boat racing have been familiar to the daily life of fishermen and become a fine cultural feature of this coastal village.
According to Mr. Phạm Tiến, head of Phuoc Thien village, the festival aims to pray for safe fishing journeys, a prosperous, peaceful life and a bumper catches ahead, as well as expresses gratitude to God of Nam Hai.
Phuoc Thien temple
Phuoc Thien temple was built during the reign of King Gia Long and it still keeps bones of Ong fishing (Whale) and worships seven Whales.
This year, after completing worshipping rituals, fishermen gathered on the beach to prepare for the seasonal fishing ritual. There were three main racing boats of dragon, turtle, and phoenix to perform this ritual. Each boat consisted of 23 fishermen and 1 referee, raced two rounds (4 turns) with 600m long in total.
Fishermen participate boat racing
Sport activities at the festival
During the festival, Phuoc Thien village in collaboration with the commune-level Youth Union and the Women Union also organized sport activities including volleyball, tug of war, “ba trao” singing , etc.
PH (baoquangngai.vn)
