Chonburi cancels buffalo racing but maintains procession event of the festival
Chonburi’s iconic Buffalo Racing Festival has been cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 situation, but the province has gone ahead with the procession ceremony that celebrates the importance of buffalos to traditional agriculture.
Chonburi Governor Phakkathorn Thianchai on Wednesday presided over the procession of Buddhist sermons to celebrate the province’s 150th Buffalo Racing Festival, held on the day before the end of Buddhist lent, which falls on October 21 this year.
The festival is normally held for nine days and nights and includes events such as buffalo racing, the “Ms Buffalo” beauty pageant, kite contests, carnival games, concerts and food festivities. All these events have however been cancelled by the government to keep Covid-19 from spreading further.
On Wednesday, a total of 13 sermons on ten incarnations of the Buddha were being carried in a procession of wagons lugged by buffaloes from Chonburi Municipal Stadium to Muang Chonburi Market – a distance of 10 kilometres.
The sermons will be submitted to a temple where Buddhist monks will chant them the next day to mark the end of Buddhist lent.
The wagons have been beautifully adorned, with some decorated with humorous intentions.
Riding atop one of the wagons, the governor urged Chonburi residents to get vaccinated to make the province safe from Covid-19.
“Chonburi locals believe that the Buffalo Racing Festival must be held every year or something bad would happen to the province’s agriculture,” a news source said.
“Although this year’s racing and many other events have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 situation, people are still coming out to watch the procession, while maintaining social distancing as advised by the Public Health Ministry,” the source added.