FESTIVALS IN LAOS

JANUARY

BOUN KHOUN KHAO

After the rice has been harvested, the people gather together to celebrate with this festival to give thanks to the spirit of the land and to ensure the next harvest will be plentiful.

BOUN PHA VET

This festival lasts for three days and three nights. People gather at temples across the country to listen to the recitation of the jataka or story of Prince Vestsantara (the Buddha’s penultimate life). Visiting fortunetellers during this boun is also a popular attraction.

FEBRUARY

OUN MAKHA BOUS’A

This temple-based festival is held on the full-moon to commemorate the speech given by Buddha to 1,250 enlightened monks. Temple-goers circumambulate the wat three times with candles in a ceremony known as vientiane.

BOUN KHAO CHI

Special sticky rice cakes are coated in egg and then grilled before being offered to the monks during this festival which Is tied to Boun Makha Bous’a. But this offering is no longer widely practiced.

WAT PHOU FESTIVAL, CHAMPASACK PROVINCE

The Wat Phou festival is held annually on the 3rd full moon of the lunar calendar, at the enchanting pre-Angkorian Wat Phou ruins in Champasack. Elephant races, buffalo fights, and cocks fights are held along with performances of traditional Lao music and dancing. There is also a trade fair that showcases products from southern Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

PACHYDERM FESTIVAL (ELEPHANT FESTIVAL)

The Asian elephant is celebrated over the course of two days in mid-February when Laos turns its eyes to Sayabouly Province and the Elephant Festival

FEBRUARY

OUN MAKHA BOUS’A

This temple-based festival is held on the full-moon to commemorate the speech given by Buddha to 1,250 enlightened monks. Temple-goers circumambulate the wat three times with candles in a ceremony known as vientiane.

BOUN KHAO CHI

Special sticky rice cakes are coated in egg and then grilled before being offered to the monks during this festival which Is tied to Boun Makha Bous’a. But this offering is no longer widely practiced.

WAT PHOU FESTIVAL, CHAMPASACK PROVINCE


The Wat Phou festival is held annually on the 3rd full moon of the lunar calendar, at the enchanting pre-Angkorian Wat Phou ruins in Champasack. Elephant races, buffalo fights, and cocks fights are held along with performances of traditional Lao music and dancing. There is also a trade fair that showcases products from southern Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

PACHYDERM FESTIVAL (ELEPHANT FESTIVAL)

The Asian elephant is celebrated over the course of two days in mid-February when Laos turns its eyes to Sayabouly Province and the Elephant Festival

MARCH

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY – 8TH (2020)

International Women’s Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women’s economic, political and social achievements. 

In Laos, this day is holiday. All the administration are close. This is localy considered as a very important day of the year.

DAY OF LAO PEOPLE’S REVOLUTIONARY PARTY – 22ND (2020)

This day is holiday. No specific demonstration, but all the administration are closed.

APRIL

PI MAI LAO (LAO NEW YEAR) – 13-16TH (2020)

Lao New Year, known as Pi Mai Lao (or Pi Mai), this is the most important celebration of the year. It is held in mid-April before the onset of the rainy season, marking the Buddhist New Year. Celebrations last for three days to commemorate the importance of water for the people through religious rituals, as well as a celebration of the strong familial ties that serve as a foundation for Lao culture and identity.

At the temple and in the household, Buddha images are ritually cleaned with sacred water. The Prabang image from the National Museum is moved outdoors to be purified in the grounds of Vat Mai. The water from the cleaning ceremonies is then poured or splashed by people on to each other to cleanse them of bad luck and their previous sins and to bring them good luck for the coming year as they wish each other ‘Happy New Year’ (Sok Dii Pimai). Many take to the streets with water guns or buckets and pans, creating an enormous neighbourhood water-fight that is impossible not to partake in.

The most elaborate of the country’s New Year festivities are held in Luang Prabang as processions throughout town, a sand-castle competition on the Mekong, a Miss New Year pageant, and a fair with folk performances and cultural shows.

The full event and activity schedule will be published a few days prior to Pi Mai festivities on the Luang Prabang Tourism website.

BOUN VISAKHABOUCHA – 6TH (2020)

Falling usually on the fifteenth day of the sixth lunar month, this festival celebrates the birth, death and tatsahou (enlightenment) of Buddha.

BOUN BANG FAI

Held just before the rainy season, Boung Bang Fai is a rainmaking and fertility festival. The people will gather for a wild and happy ceremony involving music, dance, and street processions; culminating in the firing of rockets. Rockets are lit in an effort to tempt the gods to produce rain needed for rice cultivation and also to send the naga from the river bank into the rice field in order to attract the rain.

Traditionally, rockets are made by stuffing gunpowder into elaborately decorated bamboo. But today, many different materials are used, including glass or metal piping. They come in a variety of sizes from very small to very large. When ready, the rockets are carried to a communal launch-pad. There are numerous types, each serving an individual purpose. The rocket designed to carry prayers to the rain god during Boun Bang Fai, is known as a Hang or Meun-Saen. The Ma is used to mark the passing of someone important. And Chi Nay, Ta Lai and Phu, mark the beginning of important ceremonies and festivals.

On the day of the festival, the Boun Bang Fai becomes a fiercely contested competition, in which bamboo rockets are generally only allowed to enter. First, each rocket is inspected and categorized. Scores are given for the highest flyer, the most beautiful decoration, and the most entertaining team; a category in which just about anything goes, from elaborate masks to men wearing women’s clothes, while women dance and sing. If any of the rockets fail to explode, the team’s technician and leader are forced to drink muddy water or Satho (rice whisky).

Throughout the celebrations, hosts prepare a variety of traditional food for their guests. These days, the size and location of the event is controlled due to numerous safety concern, including limited space and overlaps with aircraft routes. But nevertheless, most continue to celebrate the festival in one way or another.

GREEN SEASON

The Green Season in Laos offers many enticing benefits for visitors looking to explore this vast and vibrant country. We present our Top 10 Reasons to Travel Laos during Green Season! Pleáe contact to us to get the details

BOUN KHAO PHANSA – 5TH (2020)

Held on the full moon, this festival marks the beginning of Buddhist lent, the three-month period of monastic seclusion and meditation during the rainy season, when monks are required to stay within their wat. Monks are traditionally ordained during this period.

BOUN KHAO PADABDINH – 18TH (2020)

During this festival of Boun Khao Padab Dinh, people make special offerings to all of the deceased along with their ancestors.

BOUN SOUANG HEUA – 18TH (2020)

In Luang Prabang, this festival is held during the ninth Buddhist lunar month and is an important part of the traditional agricultural cycle. The festival pays tribute to the naga, (mythical snake water deities) with the intention of attracting the naga from the inundated rice fields back into the river. It also commemorates the end of the rainy season and brings luck for an abundant harvest. Boat races take place on the river. By holding boat races, people ritually reclaim the land from the naga, chasing them out from fields and streams and back into the Mekong River.

BOUN KHAO SALAK ANCESTOR FESTIVAL – 2ND (2020)

Hold during the 10th full moon of the lunar calendar, this festival is a celebration and a remembrance of the dead. During this festival, the Lao make offerings to the monks at the local Wat on behalf of deceased ancestors. Participant gives “good merits” to the devotes.
Most of the people go to the temple early this day, with offering to the monks. Large food trays are brought to the monks, with several “best” dishes that families can cook.
All the people will bring that offerings with a piece of papers talking about ancestors that will be read publicly.

BOAT RACING FESTIVAL, KHAMMOUANE PROVINCE

This festival which is held specifically on the Sebangfai River in the Khammouane Province, jointly features boat races along with an agricultural and local handicraft trade fair. Traditional Lao music and dance performances are given, and the you’ll see that the citizens give offerings to deceased ancestors in order to gain merit.

BOUN OK PHANSA – 2ND (2020)

Marking the end of Buddhist Lent, this festival falls on the last full moon of the rainy season. All monks end their 3-month fast and those who were ordained for the phansa period leave the wat to rejoin their families. In the morning, offerings are made at temples around the country, and in the evening the people gather for Boun Heua Fai, or the Festival of Lights.

LHAI HEUA FAI, FESTIVAL OF FLOATING BOATS OF LIGHT – 3RD (2020)

This festival is also marks the end of Buddhist Lent and is meant to bring in the phanga naga or good luck. As part of the tradition, each household will make a small round boat out of banana leaves on part of a banana tree trunk into which they put flowers, incense sticks, candles, betel nuts, and sometimes food and money. Temples and villages also take part, creating larger and more elaborately decorated boats made out of bamboo and coloured paper.

These boats are then paraded through town making its way eventually to the river. The handmade boats are delicately placed on the river with their candles alit. Prayers fill the air, giving homage to Buddha, the divinities who inhabit the river, and the Mekong itself. With the soft glow of candles reflecting on the water, the boats filled with offerings are gently sent floating downriver. It makes for a truly breathtaking scene.

BOAT RACING FESTIVAL, VIENTIANE CAPITAL – 3RD (2020)

Following Boun Heua Fai, Vientiane hosts an exciting boat racing competition on the Mekong River the next day. 

TOO MANY AMAZING TOURS TO CHOOSE

With so many amazing options, it can be difficult to know where to start when choosing a tour. We’ve put together a list of our Top 10 Adventure Tours in Luang Prabang to give a good starting point.  Please contact to us to give the full details.

LAO NATIONAL DAY – 2ND (2020)

Celebrating the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 1975, by the Pathet Lao (literally “the Lao people,” and the name of the Communist Party). The new flag was introduced: blue, white and red… the color red representing the blood shed for independence, and the blue representing the Mekong, or health of the country. The white disc symbolises the moon over the Mekong, or the unity of the country under the Communist government.

The holiday is celebrated nationwide, and even in the tiniest towns and villages, celebration is mandatory. In Luang Prabang, there are parades, speeches and dancing at That Luang temple and Lao National and communist hammer and sickle flags are flown all over the country. 

INTERNATIONAL NEW YEAR EVE -31ST (2020)

For International New Year, Laos celebrates by filling the sky with beautiful lanterns instead of of fireworks.

HMONG NEW YEAR

This colourful event showcases the fascinating culture and history of the Hmong people, the third largest ethnic group in Laos. It’s a celebration of colours and their biggest festival of the year – a definite must see. 

LUANG PRABANG FILM FESTIVAL

The Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF) brings together the boldest storytellers and the most talked about films in Southeast Asia. Artists and industry professionals flock in from all over to share their experiences and showcase their talent. LPFF is quickly becoming known as one of the most exotic and exciting locations on the international film festival circuit.

http://lpfilmfest.org

THAT INHANG FESTIVAL, SAVANNAKHET

This festival is held on the grounds of the splendid That Inhang Stupa, located just outside of Savannakhet in Southern Laos. The festival includes an international trade fair with vendors from Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. The festival also features a sports competition for football, boxing, tennis, along with traditional Lao music, dance, and drumming preformances.