Tag: Festivals

Tag: Festivals

Visit Laos Year 2024 Launched

Laos has officially launched its “Visit Laos Year 2024” campaign, expecting to attract millions of international visitors to the Southeast Asian country, which has been touted as a “paradise of culture, nature, and history.” The initiative will boast some 79 cultural events for visitors to enjoy, led by a strategic multi-platform digital campaign. Among the

Sok Di Pi Mai 2023

Laos New Year Pi Mai Lao

Lao New Year 2023, also known as Pi Mai Lao, is a traditional festival that celebrates the start of a new year according to the Lao lunar calendar. The holiday is typically celebrated for three days from April 14th to 16th and is the most important festival in Laos. This year it runs from the

Boun Hor Khaopadapdin, The festival That Feeds The Spirits

Source: Vientiane Times Boun Hor Khaopadapdin is an annual festival during which the people of Laos “feed” spirits with home-made parcels of food, reflecting their love, respect and gratitude for their deceased ancestors and guardians. The festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the ninth month in the Lao lunar calendar. It is a

“Mark Community” Greets Elephants to UNESCO World Heritage

The Luang Prabang “Mark Community”, Greets Elephants to UNESCO World Heritage festivities in Dec ember 2015 LUANG PRABANG, LAO PDR; “The Mark Community” led Luang Prabang’s public and private sector tourism stakeholders in sponsoring an Elephant Baci Ceremony during the city’s 20th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The event welcomed a 20-strong Elephant

Celebrating elephants in Laos

ELEPHANTS IN LAOS For centuries Laos was famed as the kingdom of a million elephants. Now there are fewer than 900 living in the country. While it is unknown whether a million elephants once roamed freely in Laos, elephants are a practical part of everyday Lao heritage, culture, agriculture and livelihood. Elephant are highly respected

Hmong New Year | A Celebration of Colors

laos-hmong-new-year-luang-prabang-phonsavan

Hmong women in Phonsavan | Photograph by Cyril Eberle This is a remarkable story about the third largest ethnic group in Laos — the Hmong people — celebrating their biggest festival of the year. This colorful event showcases the fascinating culture and history of this group of people expressing their unique identity. Phonsavan market and

Boun Bang Fai – Rocket Festivals in Laos

Boun Bang Fai Rocket Festival

Every year rocket festivals explode across Laos This month has brought rocket festivals to fields just outside of villages and towns all over Laos and eastern Thailand. The festival is called Boun Bang Fai and it takes place during the 6th lunar month of the year as a way to call the gods to send the rain.

Lao New Year – Pi Mai Lao in Luang Prabang

Phi Mai Lao - Laos New Year Parade in Luang Prabang

Experience the Lao New Year -the Pi Mai Lao in Luang Prabang – Lao water festival I spent my first week in Luang Prabang soaking wet from head to toe for the better part of every day. I have been blasted with water guns, had buckets of ice water poured down my back, had multi-colored

Preparing for Lao New Year (Pi Mai Lao) in Luang Prabang

Laos New Year Pi Mai Lao

Experience the Lao New Year in Luang Prabang   I arrived in Laos about a week ago to find the country buzzing with excitement for the upcoming Laos New Year – called Pi Mai Lao, Boun Pi Mai, the Water Festival, or Songkran, as it is known as in Thailand. Knowing very little about the

HMONG NEW YEAR in Laos

Hmong New Year Luang Prabang, Laos

The Lao Hmong New Year in Luang Prabang   “Easy.  Just follow the crowds in traditional dress,”  instructs Jua, one of my Hmong friends, when I ask how to find the Hmong New Year celebrations in Luang Prabang, Laos.  Turns out it really is that simple.  One crisp Saturday morning in early December I crest

Luang Prabang Film Festival

Luang Prabang Film Festival

4th Annual Luang Prabang Film Festival Celebrates Southeast Asian Cinema     For five days the annual Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF) transformed The Handicraft Market of Luang Prabang into a bustling open-air theatre.  The screening space at the main intersection of this World Heritage town, with its ability to hold over 1500 people, was

Awk Phansaw Festival, it’s like Christmas and the America’s Cup all in one

Lao Awk Phansaw Festival The Full Moon Festival of Lights   Thousand lights, merit making, boat race, decorated temples, banana-leaf boats – see Laos changed! Also known as Ok Watsa (Awk Watsa), this festival celebrates the end of the Buddhist Lent (Vassa). Lent lasts three month during rainy season. Monks focus on meditation, reviving their

Elephant Festival

The Elephant Festival in Laos is held in the north once a year.  This year it was in Sayaboury Jerseys a playoffs town several hours southwest of Luang Prabang.  Many people in town set out to see the Elephants and enjoy the festival.  Tiger Trail made an event of it as well offering transport and accommodation