Festivals of Laos

Laos has a wealth of festivals most of which are widely known in Southeast Asia. The Lao festivals are a mixture of mundane and mystic practices founded in their major religion of Buddhism.

Festivals among the Lao highlight their commonly shared values and strengthen their unity as well. Here are some of the more colourful festivals the Lao people celebrate in a year.

Boun Pimai

This is one of the most significant annual festivals of Laos; especially in Luang prabang. Boun Pimai is the New Year festival celebrated in mid - April. December is in fact the first month of the Lao New Year but celebrations are postponed to April. This is because days are longer than nights and the pouring of water which usually marks the festival is more convenient in this month.

The festival consists of not only prayer but also dining and wining.

It is usually celebrated with cultural dance, Lao songs (Mor lam) as well as water-pouring. In Luang prabang, Buddha statues are served with water throwing rituals. The country as a whole is usually agog with celebration.

People make their houses tidy, appear nice and further wash Buddha images with blessed water. In Luang prabang itself the event involves a grand elephant procession.

Marha Puha

This festival is a commemoration of an inspiring speech delivered by the Buddha himself to one thousand two hundred and fifty monks that came to listen to him without earlier notice.

During his speech, Buddha predicted his own death and laid down the rules regarding monkhood. During the festival people sing and give offerings. The climax of the festival is the candlelit circumambulation of Wats. It is most observed by people in Vientiane and Wat Phu.

The people rejoice and worship fervently during this festival which occurs in the month of February. Other festivals which take place during the month of February are Sikhtabong festival, Wat Phu festival, Vietnamese Tet and Chinese New Year.

Haw Khao Padap Din

This is a time when the dead are respected and remembered. This festival is marked with exhuming of buried corpses, tidying up the remains and cremating them on the night of the full moon.

Monks are offered gifts by relatives of the dead on whose behalf they have chanted. This is usually observed in the month of August. Other important events in August include boat racing festival in both Luang prabang and a trade fair in the same city. Moreover, there are other significant events for the Laos which include the water festival (Bun Nam), Boung Yhat Luang held in the month of November, Boun Ok Phansa, held in the month of September and Khao Phansao in the months of June/July.

Among others, Lao National Day is celebrated through out the country to mark the overthrow of the Monarchy by the peasants in the year 1975.