An elephant race was held in Krong Na commune, Buon Don district in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak, as part of the 2012 Buon Don Ethnic Cultural Festival, which took place on March 24-26.
This year’s festival offered many special programmes such as elephant racing and elephant soccer as well as a prayer for the elephants’ health and the elephant bathing ceremony. Nearly 20 mahouts also reenacted scenes of hunting and taming wild elephants.

The festival also featured traditional ethnic group rituals and performances including the water wharf ceremony; a show of traditional ethnic costumes and a gong music concert.

The festival, organised every two years, is one of the traditions of Buon Don district ethnic minority people to help preserve and develop their distinctive cultures. This year’s festival attracted thousands of local and international visitors.