VietNamNet Bridge – Cau Ngu Festival, the biggest event of fishermen in Danang City to pray for good weather and fish catches in the new year, was held last week in Thanh Khe District, gathering a large number of fishermen and visitors.

Elderly people perform a ritual during Cau Ngu Festival held in Thanh Khe District, Danang City last week

Held annually in the middle of the first lunar month in the central coast city, the festival was also for local people to honor their ancestors who have reclaimed and expanded the area, and the very first fishermen.

Many cultural and entertainment activities took place alongside folk music performances, sports event, folk games, and painting exhibition. The event had an area displaying outstanding seafood products of Danang.

This year’s event was joined by hundreds of international sailors from 12 teams of the 2015-2016 Round the World Clipper Race, the world’s largest sailing regatta. They stopped by Danang before continuing a race of more than 40,000 nautical miles.

According to elderly people in Thanh Khe District, Cau Ngu Festival is usually organized in coastal areas in Son Tra, Thanh Khe, and Lien Chieu districts.

After the festival, all fishermen in the area will start a new year of working at sea together.

On the agenda of the Cau Ngu Festival was a ritual to worship whales. For fishermen, whale is the sacred fish as it would come to rescue fishermen in danger at sea. Whenever a whale is found hurt and washed ashore, the first man who sees it will have to take care of the fish and even hold a funeral for the fish if it dies.

A painting exhibition at Cau Ngu Festival     Young people join a tug-of-war game       Foreign visitors take photos when boats are launched at the end of Cau Ngu Festival – Photos: Tien Sa

SGT