An ethnic Khmer cultural, sports and tourism festival will open in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on Dec. 12, organisers have announced.

The five-day festival, held at the Xuan Bien Industrial Park in Tinh Bien District, will highlight a variety of cultural activities including long-boat races, fashion shows of traditional Khmer costumes, traditional food, exhibitions and cross-border cultural exchanges. Cultural and scientific seminars will also be part of the event that is held every three years.

Ho Viet Hiep, Deputy Chairman of An Giang People's Committee, head of the organising board, said organising the festival in a border district like Tinh Bien will help attract large groups of Khmer people from Cambodia to the festival.

He said the annual ox race, a traditional event of the Khmer people in the Mekong Delta provinces of Vietnam , will be one of the highlights of the event.

Local companies will display their products at 50 booths while Cambodian firms will display theirs at 15 other booths at the festival, Hiep said./.