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Laos
>> Laos Holidays & Festivals
January
International New Year - January 1st to 3rd - Public Holiday Army Day - January 20th - Public Holiday Boun Khoun Khao (Boun Khoun Lan) - Two day Festival in January or February A nationwide rice harvest festival celebrated in villages around the country at local temples. Villagers perform ceremonies to give thanks to the spirits for bountiful crops.
February
Vietnamese Tet & Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) Celebrated in Vientiane, Pakse and Savannakhet by Vietnamese and Chinese communities. This festival consists of visits to temples, merit making, noisy parties, and the lighting of strings of firecrackers. Many Vietnamese and Chinese owned businesses close for 3 days during this period. Magha Puja (Makha Busa) Held on the night of the full moon, this festival commemorates the teachings of Lord Buddha given to over a thousand monks who came spontaneously to hear him speak. The festival is marked by circumambulation of temples by candle-bearing worshippers. There is much merit making, and religious music and chanting. Boun Wat Phu, Champassak Province - Starting on the full moon of the third lunar month (usually early February) The traditional Wat Phu festival is held in the grounds of the Wat Phu Champassak Temple complex. There are elephant races, water buffalo fighting, cock fighting, and traditional performances. A trade fair with products from southern Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam is also held at the same time. Boun Khao Chi - Two days in February on third full moon of lunar calendar
A nationwide festival which involves a morning ceremony at the temple in which a special type of bread made from sticky rice is offered. Boun That Phon, Savannakhet Province - February
According to local legend, That Phon was originally built in 236 BCE by Sondeth Phaphouthavongsa of the order of Phaya Sithammasokrath and is one of the most sacred stupas in Savannakhet Province. Each February at full moon the That Phon Festival is held. March
International Woman’s Day - March 8th - Public Holiday
Boun Phra Wet Sandone - Three days in March This nationwide three-day and three-night festival is a religious occasion to commemorate the virtue and charity of the Buddha as Prince Vessantara. During the festival monks recite the Jataka tale Phravetsandone. It is considered a particularly auspicious time for ordination into the monkshood, and the festival is also an occasion for senior abbots to ordain new monks. People also exchange invitations with friends and families in different villages to join in their celebration
April
Boun Pi Mai (Lao New Year) - Mid April - Public Holiday
Similar to songkran in Thailand, it is celebrated nationwide at the same time each year. It is the largest holiday of the year, and the whole country essentially closes down. There are parades, dancing, singing and enthusiastic water throwing. Statues of Buddha are cleaned with water pouring ceremonies, and temple compounds are decorated with small sand Stupas, offered as merit towards good fortune and health. The celebration is most picturesque in Luang Prabang, with elephant processions, a beauty contest, and people dressed in traditional costumes. May International Labor Day - May 1st - Public Holiday
Visakha Puja (Visakha Busa) - 15th day of 6th Lunar Month Chanting, religious instruction, and candlelit processions are the highlights of this temple festival which celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. Boun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival) - Mid May This is a pre-Buddhist festival to invoke the start of the rainy season. It now coincides with the Visakha Puja celebrations. Parades, singing, dancing and partying all culminate in the explosive climax of firing huge, ornate, homemade bamboo rockets into the skies to invite the rains. The rocket-makers earn both merit and honor if their creations fly high. This dramatic festival is also celebrated in northeastern Thailand. June International Children's Day - 1st June - Public Holiday
July Khao Phansa - Mid July on eighth full moon of Lunar Calendar
A nationwide festival to mark the beginning of the three-month period of Buddhist Lent, which commences at the full moon in July and continues until the full moon in October. It is traditionally a time for monks to stay in their monastery, and a time of austerity when monks fast and spend most of their time in prayer and meditation. At dawn on the first day, hundreds of worshippers flock to the temple carrying silver bowls full of offerings and gifts for the monks, and then perform the rituals of offering gifts to the monks, called tak baat. It and is considered a particularly auspicious time for Lao men to enter the monkshood and there are many ordination ceremonies. August Haw Khao Padap Din - Two days starting on the 15th day of the ninth lunar month Held in the middle of the rainy season when the land is green and bountiful, this ceremony is devoted to remembering and paying respect to the departed ancestors. It is marked by the somber exhuming of previously buried bodies, cleaning the remains, and then cremating them on the night of the full moon. Gifts are given to the monks who chant on the behalf of those who have passed away. Boun Souang Heua, Luang Prabang Province - Mid-late August, two days coinciding with Boun Haw Khao Padabdin This local festival features boat racing on the Nam Khan River and a trade fair in the centre of Luang Prabang.
October
Awk Phansaa (Ok Watsa)
This marks the end of the three-month Buddhist Lent period on the day of the full moon. Monks are permitted to leave the temple, and are presented with gifts. Then in the evening, candlelight processions are held at wats, and people gather at the nearest body of water to set adrift small banana-leaf or paper boats decorated with candles, incense and small flowers. This particularly beautiful festival is called Lai Hua Fai, and is similar to the Loy Krathong Festival in Thailand. Bun Nam (Boat Racing Festival)
In riverside towns such as Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Savannaket, the highly competitive Bun Nam boat races (reua suang) are held the day after Awk Phansaa. Some smaller communities hold these races on National Day on December 2nd. That Muang Sing (Boun That Chieng Theum), Luang Namtha Province - Two days A festival held at the That Chieng Theum Stupa which is just south of the provincial capital of Muang Sing. Worshippers pay their respects with offerings of candles, flowers and incense.
November
Boun Phra That Luang
Although it is celebrated at many temples around the country, this festival is mainly centered at That Luang in Vientiane where hundreds of monks gather to accept alms and floral offerings from the people. It also has a somewhat commercial aspect to it, with trade fairs, beauty contests, music and fireworks which take place throughout the week of the full moon, and end with a candlelight procession (wien thien) around That Luang. Nor Chia (Hmong New Year) - One week in November This New Year is celebrated by Hmong communities around the country, starting on the full moon in November. It is celebrated particularly in Oudomxai, Xieng Khouang, Luang Prabang and Vientiane Provinces. There are special celebrations with colorful displays of traditional costumes, music played on traditional Hmong instruments, the mak khon (cotton ball) throwing ceremony, crossbow ceremonies, and events such as ox fighting and spinning top races.
December
Lao National Day - December 2nd - Public Holiday
Commemorates the founding of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos with the victory of the Pathet Lao in 1975.. The streets are decorated with national flags and banners, and there are processions, parades, and speeches. This celebration is mandatory. Boun That Inhang, Savannakhet Province - Four days in early December Held annually at That Inhang, located north of the provincial capital of Savannakhet. The festival features traditional Lao music and dance performances, as well as a sports competitions, and local a drumming competition. There is also an international trade fair coinciding with the festival with exhibitions of products from Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
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