Thousands of people and tourists attend the 2025 Thang Tam Vung Tau Whale Festival

The Nghinh Ong Thang Tam Vung Tau Festival in 2025 is an opportunity for Vung Tau ward to introduce the image of the land and local people, affirming the festival event tourism brand associated with the construction strategy of Ho Chi Minh City.

On October 7, Vung Tau ward (HCMC) organized the 2025 Vung Tau Ong Nghinh Festival, with the participation of thousands of residents and tourists.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Ban, Secretary of Vung Tau Ward Party Committee, delivered the opening speech of the festival.

PHOTO: NGUYEN LONG

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Tan Ban, Secretary of the Vung Tau Ward Party Committee, said that the 2025 Vung Tau Ong Nghinh Festival, one of the typical traditional festivals, is also the first national intangible cultural heritage to be held in the ward in the new development period.

The Whale Festival is not only an occasion for the fishing community to remember and pay tribute to Whale - the guardian deity of the ocean, but also a vivid testament to the power of folk culture, the spirit of solidarity, loyalty and the aspiration to reach the sea of ​​Vung Tau people through many generations.

Parade in the festival

PHOTO: NGUYEN LONG

This is not only a cultural and religious activity, but also a symbol connecting the past, present and future, affirming identity, while arousing faith, pride and responsibility in preserving and promoting heritage values.

"This year, the festival takes place in a new context, Vung Tau ward is identified as a key coastal tourism ward of Ho Chi Minh City, a place with full potential to become the heart of event tourism, a center of cultural tourism - high-class festivals. Therefore, the Nghinh Ong Thang Tam Vung Tau Festival in 2025 not only inherits traditional values, but is also organized with a spirit of innovation, creativity, science , professionalism, expected to become an annual festival of regional stature", Mr. Nguyen Tan Ban shared.

Before the opening ceremony, there is the ceremony of welcoming the whale from the sea to the mainland, then bringing it to the Thang Tam communal house.

The procession brought him back to the mainland.

PHOTO: NGUYEN LONG

During the festival days, there will be a ceremony to worship ancestors and heroic martyrs, a ceremony to invite the god's decree to the Nam Hai Mausoleum, a ceremony to worship Nam Hai, a ceremony to build a great altar...

The 2025 Thang Tam Vung Tau Whale Festival will take place until October 12, with activities such as lion-dragon dances; traditional opera performances; basketball competitions, painting contests and exhibitions of children's paintings; golden bell ringing competitions...

The Secretary of the Vung Tau Ward Party Committee said that through a series of rich activities, from traditional rituals to festivals with cultural, sports , culinary and artistic programs, Vung Tau Ward not only introduces the image of the land and people of Vung Tau as friendly and hospitable, but also affirms the festival event tourism brand associated with the strategy of building Ho Chi Minh City into an "international tourist destination, dynamic, creative, modern, rich in identity".

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hang-ngan-nguoi-dan-du-khach-du-le-hoi-nghinh-ong-thang-tam-vung-tau-nam-2025-185251007150028846.htm