On September 9, Venerable Chau Soc Khonl - a monk at Ro Pagoda (An Cu commune, An Giang province) said that at the Ro Pagoda Bull Racing Festival 2026, the pagoda will prepare 5 traditional Khmer specialties to serve attendees and cheers. Accordingly, the pagoda ordered a professional processing facility to supply 800 beef cakes with palmyra palm sugar, 500 kha - tum cakes, 50kg of palmyra palm sugar wrapped in palmyra palm leaves and 60 liters of fresh palmyra palm water.
In particular, attendees also enjoyed palmyra sweet soup - a dish prepared from the flesh of palmyra fruit mixed with green beans, cooked with palmyra sugar. The specialties are prepared from familiar ingredients in the life of the Khmer people, bearing the characteristic flavor of the Seven Mountains region. All expenses are contributed by the pagoda and Buddhists. Venerable Chau Soc Khonl said that the preparation of traditional specialties is to create conditions for people and tourists to come to the bull racing festival to have the opportunity to enjoy Khmer cuisine imbued with Khmer identity.
Through these dishes, we hope that people will not only come to watch bull racing but also learn more about the culture and life of the Khmer people. This is also an opportunity for pagodas, Buddhists, bull owners and people to meet, exchange, and increase community cohesion" - Venerable Chau Soc Khonl shared.
The Ro Pagoda bull racing festival taking place at the racetrack in the pagoda grounds on September 13, 2026 is a traditional cultural and sports activity of the Khmer people in the That Son region. This year, 32 pairs of bulls passed the qualifying round in many localities to compete, creating a vibrant atmosphere for the festival.
Besides the competitions on the race track, the culinary space prepared by the pagoda adds a unique feature to the event, helping people and tourists have more experiences about the culture and cuisine of the Khmer people of An Giang.
