Procession of the statue of Ba Chua Xu from Sam Mountain down to the temple, a ceremony of the Ba Chua Xu Festival last year. (Photo: VNA)
An Giang(VNA) – The Ba Chua Xu Festival, a national intangible cultural heritage, began in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, on May 17.
The annual festival takesplace at Ba Chua Xu Temple in Nui Sam, Chau Doc city from the 22th – 24th ofthe fourth lunar month, which falls on May 17-19 this year, to honour thesacred Ba Chua Xu, a local tutelary goddess.
It recreates fivefolk ceremonies, including a procession of the statue of Ba Chua Xu from SamMountain down to the temple, and washing the statue.
The event is beingheld during the celebration of An Giang’s 2017 tourism month with variousactivities, such as dragon dances, boat racing, Khmer cow racing andtraditional art performances.
About five millionpeople make a pilgrimage to Chau Doc every year for the festival.
It is said that thetemple of Ba Chua Xu was built with leaves and bamboo in the 1820s. It wasrebuilt and is now a beautiful site in the Sam Mountain area.
Located in the ThatSon (Seven Mountains) area, which is the delta’s roof, Sam Mountain has manycultural heritage sites, including ancient Tay An pagoda, and the mausoleum ofThoai Ngoc Hau (1761 – 1829), a renowned general of the Nguyen Dynasty.-VNA
A spiritual festival honouring the holy lady of Mount Sam in Chau Doc city, in the Mekong Delta of An Giang was certified as national intangible heritage on June 8.
More than one million tourists visited pagodas, temples and historic sites in the southern province of An Giang in February, an increase of 200,000 compared to the previous month.
Visitors will have the opportunity to meet chef Martin Yan, enjoy an ox racing festival and join the solemn Ba Chua Xu honouring festival in Chau Doc city this May.
The Vietnamese team will gather on June 26 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, where they will train until July 14 before departing for Indonesia for the ASEAN U23 Championship 2025, which runs from July 15 to 29. Vietnam will face Laos on July 19 and Cambodia on July 22 in the group stage.
The exhibition showcases more than 100 valuable documents and artifacts, divided into two main parts: “Journalist Nguyen Ai Quoc – Ho Chi Minh” and “President Ho Chi Minh – Founder and Mentor of Vietnamese Revolutionary Press.” This is an opportunity to recall the late leader’s journalism journey and affirm his exceptional role in founding and guiding the revolutionary press in Vietnam.
For the first time, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) has granted Vietnam hosting rights for the two championships, including the Asian women’s solo category, which debuts this year as an officially recognised event.
Eight teams will join the tournament, divided into two groups. Group A features Vietnam, the Philippines, Sichuan Club (China), and Australia, while Group B consists of Vietnam U21, Korabelka Club (Russia), Taiwan (China), and U21 Thailand.
Despite strong home support and high expectations, Vietnam were unable to overcome the defending champions, who secured their third consecutive win over Vietnam in a regional final, following previous victories in 2014 and 2023.
The event, part of Vietnam’s cultural diplomacy strategy through 2030, was jointly organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Venezuela and USM’s Faculty of International Relations. It attracted thousands of students from universities across Venezuela.
For the first time, Vietnamese audiences will have the opportunity to experience the ballet masterpiece "Don Quixote" in its original version by renowned choreographer Marius Petipa.
The contest carried deep meaning as it was the first time the life of Vietnamese women abroad had been highlighted as the central theme, said poet and writer Nguyen Quang Thieu, Chairman of the Vietnam Writers’ Association.
The event formed part of Vietnam’s ongoing campaign to seek UNESCO World Heritage status for the complex at the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, scheduled to take place in Paris in July.
Creative cultural festivals are fast emerging as a new catalyst for tourism development in Vietnam, as localities increasingly invest in these vibrant events on a more systematic and larger scale.
This marks the first time Vietnam has hosted a continental-level Muay event which will feature competitions across 28 weight categories in combat and eight performance categories.
Coming to the Vietnamese booth, visitors had the chance to take part in a bamboo dance, a workshop on painting woven bamboo or rattan, or quizzes about Vietnam.
These are impressive achievements, not only showing the efforts and prowess of Vietnamese paddlers but also serving as proof of the sports sector’s strategic and systematic investment.
The cultural event in Canberra not only fostered cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Australia but also contributed to promoting Vietnam’s image internationally
The U23 competition will run from June 16 to 22, followed by the U17 event from June 23 to 28, while athletes competing in the U23 category will undergo weight and skill checks ahead of the matches starting June 18, while similar checks for U17 athletes will take place before June 23.
Vietnam continues to sit just behind continental powerhouses Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, China, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Procession of the statue of Ba Chua Xu from Sam Mountain down to the temple, a ceremony of the Ba Chua Xu Festival last year. (Photo: VNA) 
