The traditional cultural festival of ethnic groups in Buon Don district - Dak Lak Elephant Festival is held every two years in March of the solar calendar. The ethnic groups in Buon Don hold an elephant racing festival along with other unique rituals such as the water wharf worship ceremony, the elephant health worship ceremony, the buffalo eating ceremony to celebrate the harvest (Buffalo stabbing ceremony), the new rice worship ceremony (Harvest celebration ceremony), gong culture...
Elephants participate in a football competition at the festival. Photo: VNA
The Cultural Festival of Ethnic Groups in Buon Don District - Dak Lak Elephant Festival is a cultural activity imbued with the traditional cultural identity of ethnic groups in Buon Don District in particular and the Central Highlands provinces in general. These are rituals with the meaning of praying for a new good crop, high productivity, bringing prosperity to the village.
The Elephant Festival, with the participation of 18 elephants, takes place in one day with activities such as elephant speed running, elephant swimming across the river, elephant playing soccer. The Elephant Racing Festival aims to honor the martial spirit and the elephant taming skills of the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands.
In addition, the Festival also includes cultural performances of gongs, folk songs, folk dances, traditional musical instrument performances and traditional costumes, enjoying unique cuisine imbued with the identity of ethnic groups, riding elephants to visit villages, and visiting YokDon National Forest.
The Buon Don Ethnic Culture Festival - Dak Lak Elephant Festival not only contributes to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of the ethnic groups in Dak Lak province but is also an opportunity for the locality to promote its tourism potential to domestic and foreign visitors. The festival will close on the morning of March 14.
