A contestant takes part in an ox-cart race in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia, on April 7, 2025. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)

Cambodian villagers on Monday held a traditional ox-cart racing here to celebrate the lunar New Year, which will be observed from April 14 to 16.

Convened in Chbar Mon town's Snor I village, roughly 50 km west of the capital Phnom Penh, contenders raced their ox-carts pulled by two oxen in a 1.3 km-meter-dirt track, as hundreds of spectators enthusiastically watched and cheered on the winners of the race.

Kampong Speu provincial governor Cheam Chansophoan said the event aimed to preserve, promote, and develop the age-old tradition, which had been left by the ancestors since ancient times.

He said a total of 67 pairs of oxen were brought to participate in this year's race, up from 50 pairs in last year's event.

Sun Meanchey, director of the Kampong Speu Provincial Department of Culture and Fine Arts, said the event was to conserve and safeguard this ox-cart racing tradition from extinction.

"According to the history, ox-cart racing tradition has existed for hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of years," he told Xinhua.

Ox-carts were used to carry dowries and elderly people for wedding ceremonies or other festivals in ancient times, and later, villagers had initiated ox-cart races in their villages to mark the traditional Lunar New Year, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said in a news release.

Today, the use of ox-carts is on the brink of disappearance since people turn to more modern modes of transport such as cars, trucks, tractors and motorized rickshaws.

Contestants take part in an ox-cart race in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia, on April 7, 2025. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)