The drum used at this year’s festival made from chamois skin

This is a fertility festival meant to ensure good crops and the health of the community. This year it has attracted more visitors than in the past, including some from as far away as Laos.

The festival includes a large banquet in honour of the deities, including wine, chicken, fish, sticky rice and other foods. After the offering, the festival starts. Participants gather around wine pots amid the exciting atmosphere of beating drums and dancing.

The youngest and strongest men are selected for beating the drums, which must have holes in the skins by dawn to show the enthusiasm of the participants. The sooner holes appear in the drums, the sooner couples can disappear into the nearby forests.

Young men trying to beat the drum

Late into the night only elderly people and children are left beside the wine pots.

Married people are allowed to go with other partner after the drums are beaten to tatters. From then until the next morning this is not considered adultery, and husbands and wives do not become jealous.

Waiting for holes to appear in the drum

Dinh Puon, 33, and Y Mim, 27, decided to get married after the festival some years ago. This year, he spent one night with a woman who had loved him before. His wife, Y Mim, said she was not jealous of this because it is permitted by the deities.

Over years, the festival has seen many changes, but its core values have been maintained, mainly that of fertility.

Source: Dtinews