Locals in Indonesia's West Sumatra province marked the Lunar New Year holidays by taking part in a traditional bull racing event on Saturday (February 13).

Exhilarating footage captured in the muddy rice fields of Tanah Datar District shows jockeys getting dragged by their bulls for the extreme sporting event.

A popular tourist attraction, pacu Jawi (cow race) is closed to the general public due to the coronavirus pandemic until May.

Although described as a race, the bulls do not directly compete against each other and no formal winner is announced.

The tradition, which has been around for hundreds of years, sometimes takes place to celebrate the end of the rice harvest season.

The raucous event also allows sellers to show off their best bulls to buyers.

To fill the long Lunar New Year holiday in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia, farmers and breeders in West Sumatra province hold Bull race contest.

Footage filmed in Cubadak, Tanah Datar District, Saturday, February 13, shows the race being held in an after harvest muddy rice field .

One of Indonesia's most wanted tourist attractions by photographers is now regularly held every Saturday.

To prevent the spread of covid-19, these traditional races, or "Pacu Jawi", is currently being held closed to the public, and can only be watched on social media and internet.

In May 2021, Pacu Jawi is scheduled open to public and can be witnessed by tourists.

Pacu jawi sees a jockey stand holding on to a pair of loosely-tied bulls by their tails while the bulls cover about 60–250 metres (200–820 ft) of muddy track in a rice field.

Although it is called a "race", the bulls do not directly compete against each other, and no formal winner is declared.

Once a year, bull breeders in Indonesia come together to race their animals against each other as a way to show off their prowess to potential buyers.