Local authorities in the Mekong Deltaprovinces of Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and An Giang have visited and presentedgifts to Khmer people to congratulate them on the traditional SeneDolta Festival.

The Sene Dolta Festival is beingorganised from the 30th day of the 8th lunar month to the second day ofthe 9th lunar month, which falls on Sept. 18-20 this year.

Leaders of Bac Lieu province joined officials of the Steering Committeefor the South-Western Region to pay visits and give gifts to monks andnuns at the Prochumsake and Ghositaram pagodas in Bac Lieu town andVinh Loi district.

On this occasion, authorities in the southernmost province of Ca Mau,which is home to more than 37,000 Khmer people, visited and presentedgifts to all Khmer pagodas, monks, nuns and a number of local families.

Many localities in the province have hosted various cultural activitiessuch as folk games and art performances to serve the Khmer people.

This year, the Khmer group in An Giang province enjoyed theirtraditional festival with more happiness and joys as they haveharvested a bumper crop and received support from the localauthorities.

Since the beginning of this year, An Giang has invested close to 200billion VND in building roads to Khmer villages, medicalestablishments, communal houses and houses for poor Khmer families.

To mark the event, Can Tho city’s authorities raised funds to buy giftsfor 12 Khmer pagodas and a number of families of social policybeneficiaries and outstanding households.

The Sene Dolta Festival is one of the largest annual festivals of theKhmer people, besides the Chol Chnam Thmay (New Year) and the Ooc OomBok - a festival to thank the Moon for a good harvest.

It serves as a chance for nearly 1.3 million Khmer people in MekongDelta provinces and cities to gather together to pay tributes to theirancestors, and enjoy traditional songs and dances and otherlight-hearted activities after a hard working year./.