The Dak Con Festival, also known as the Coconut Worship Ceremony, is one of the unique traditional festivals, bearing the strong cultural and spiritual imprint of the Khmer people in An Trach Hamlet, An Hiep Commune (Chau Thanh District, Soc Trang Province).
The Dak Con Festival is associated with a mysterious and profound legend in the spiritual life of the Khmer people here. According to the Khmer language, Thach means Dap, while Con means Cong, combined with the meaning of Dap Cong.
The festival takes place over 3 days and 3 nights, starting from the day of Pinh-bor Khe-cheth to the day of the 2nd day of the 20th lunar month (calculated according to the Khmer calendar), on the 15th, 16th and 17th of the 3rd lunar month every year, with rituals imbued with the spirit of Buddhism. During the 3 days, the main activities include: Morning rice offering for monks; evening inviting monks to pray for super-powerful temples, performing acts of blessing to pray for peace for the community. Then there is the presentation, helping Buddhists understand more about the teachings of the Buddha. Following religious rituals are traditional stage art performances of the ballots and statements, contributing to creating a lively atmosphere for the festival.
One of the unique features that makes the difference for the Dak Con Festival is the offering offering. The flower vases are made from coconut fruit called Slatho Don. Each flower bottle is made from a fresh coconut fruit, inside are fresh flowers, green betel leaves and red threads. This is an offering symbolizing the purity and respect of the people for heaven and earth, ancestors and sacred servants. These flower vases can be made by the people themselves or purchased in advance and then offered as offerings, becoming an indispensable symbol, creating the unique identity of the Dak Con Festival.
Not only has spiritual meaning, the Dak Con Festival also reflects the typical agricultural production thinking of the Khmer people. The festival is usually held at the beginning of the rainy season in the South, the new crop of farmers. This is the time for people to send their wishes for a favorable and bumper harvest season, and at the same time express gratitude to heaven and earth, ancestors and gods who have blessed a peaceful and prosperous life.
The Dak Con Festival also plays an important role in the economic, cultural, social and traditional education life of local people. This is an opportunity for the community to preserve and honor national cultural values, encourage people to live well-off, live beautifully and increasingly improve themselves. The festival is also an opportunity for ethnic groups to exchange culture, contribute to promoting the image of their homeland, attracting tourists and promoting sustainable tourism development associated with heritage conservation.
With such unique and sustainable cultural values, on June 3, 2025, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a decision to recognize the Dak Con Festival as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The decision announcement ceremony was solemnly organized by the People's Committee of Soc Trang province in coordination with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the People's Committee of Chau Thanh district on June 19.
Mr. Son Po - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Soc Trang province - affirmed: "The recognition of the Tak Con Festival as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage is not only a great honor of Chau Thanh district but also a common pride of the Khmer people in the whole province. This is an important basis for the locality to continue to pay attention to, invest in preserving and promoting the value of heritage, while linking with tourism development, creating livelihoods for the local community.
