Can Tho Local Events
FLOATING MARKETS
The famous Cai Rang Floating Markets are a must see during your stay in Can Tho. They are located approximately 6 kilometres from Can Tho on the Mekong river. It is one of the largest floating markets on the Mekong River. It provides a fascinating insight into the culture of Can Tho.
Boats gather to sell their various products and local specialities from around the region, especially fruit. On each boat contains an upright pole on which they hang various samples of their fare for potential buyers to check out.
Amongst the sellers weave a number of other boats selling drinks for the thirsty visitors.
Time: 12th to the 14th day of the fourth lunar month.
Place: Binh Thuy Ward, Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City.
Objects of worship: Thanh Hoang Bon Canh (God of Land).
Characteristics: Thuong dien ceremony (worship God of Land after harvesting rice), praying for peace, sacrifice ceremony, procession of god on dragon and phoenix-decorated palanquin, welcoming royal ordinance on three splendidly-decorated boats, boi singing in three nights.
On 9 November 1893, the Communal House, which was built in the 19th century, was named Bon Canh Thanh Hoang by Emperor Tu Duc. Since that time, the communal house has been rebuilt once and the roof has been covered with tiles. it was completely renovated in 1910.
The architecture of the Binh Thuy Communal House is different from the communal houses in the North. The front and the back buildings are square, and each side has six rows of columns. All the bases of the columns are very wide, which make the buildings more stable. The roofs of the two front buildings were built overlapping each other.
The main temple, at the rear, has three roofs. The top of the roof is covered with ornamentation of people, lions, and fish transforming into dragons. In the front of the building, there are cement columns. Inside the ancestor-worshipping house, there are altars, which are dedicated to Nghi Ba and Nghi Trung. In the square house, there are altars dedicated to Huong Chuc, Tien Giac, and Hau Hien. The middle room dedicated to Hau Than is very close to the rear partition and the Huu Ban and Ta Ban altars are on either side.
An opera house for performances of classical Vietnamese drama was built in front of the communal house. Later, the communal house was also dedicated to the spirits of the land, such as Dinh Cong Trang, Nguyen Trung Truc, Bui Huu Nghia, and Vo Huy Tap.
Every year, the local people organize the Thuong Dien (the land breaking) ceremony and the Ha Dien (initiating farm work) ceremony in honour of the God of Agriculture. The festival involves many folk games, such as duck races, tug of wars, and cooking contests.
