A procession ritual of Thay Thim Cultural Festival in Lagi town last year.

To mark the Tourism Day of Phan Thiet City (October 24) and the day Phan Thiet becomes a 2nd grade city, Binh Thuan Province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has approved a plan to organize culture and sports activities to share their happiness with international and domestic tourists.

The event will take place in Phan Thiet city on October 22-24 at some well-known landscapes and tourism areas. The highlights of this event are beach volleyball, beach football, surfing, traditional boat racing, traditional arts such as bai choi featuring folk songs, traditional games of the coastal region, a lantern exhibition, a painting exhibition, public arts performances, and a street festival to introduce local traditional festivals such as the Mid-Autumn, the Nghinh Ong Quan Thanh and the Cau Ngu to worship the whale.

This is also a chance to honor typical tourism businesses, travel agencies and tour operators who take the most travelers to Binh Thuan province and to vote for the best service organizations, entertainment organizations and the most attractive sightseeing spots.

*Thay Thim Cultural Festival, an annual festival worshipping Thay Thi who is regarded as a local magician, will take place at Thay Thim Palace and some tourist sites such as Mom Da Chim, Doc Ong Bang, Cam Binh and Doi Duong Beach in La Gi town, Phan Thiet city from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.

Aiming at introducing significant cultural features and promoting tourism for Lagi Town, the new destination for tourists to Binh Thuan province, the festival will feature rituals as well as traditional artistic performances. Rituals will include incense burning, a procession and a drama of the legend of Thay Thim. Tourists at the festival will have a chance to join the jubilant atmosphere with contests of traditional singing, Ong Bang hill trekking, sand dune running, beach volleyball, fishing net weaving and tug of war.

The event also includes performances of lion and dragon dances, martial arts, folk games and a flower lantern festival. The organizers will hand out medicine at Thay Thim Palace.

N.B (Copy VietNamNet - Saigon Times)