Boun Bung Fai
The date of Boun Bung Fai, or the Lao Rocket Festival varies by region and sometimes by village. Festivals take place in May, June and July. Villagers ask the spirits to end the hot season and bring on the rains by launching homemade rockets. Winners are those whose rockets fly highest and burn brightest. Losers are thrown in the mud. Spectators watch the show, hear the judges remarks and eat and drink.
Lai Heua Fai (Fire Boat Festival)
Hoi An lantern festival eat your heart out. Laos’ Fire Boat festival, celebrating the end of Buddhist lent, could give Vietnam’s most popular event a run for its money. In the UNESCO town of Luang Prabang, local villagers proudly parade enormous paper boats to the 16th century Wat Xieng Thong temple to be judged, before taking them down to the Mekong River where they are lit with candles and set sail in a blaze.
During a picturesque evening ritual, Lao people also light hundreds of lanterns, some to adorn the temples, and others to float atop the water and send downstream. While you are unlikely to craft a paper boat masterpiece during your stay, it is easy to get involved in the celebrations. Join the locals in making your own ‘boat of light’; simply fill an empty banana trunk with a combination of flowers, incense or food and a candle and send it on its way to meet the others.
Boun Pha Vet
This Laos festival is also call Thet Mahachat, held on the full moon day of the 12th lunar month. This is a Buddhist festival widely celebrated in Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka. It celebrates Buddha’s previous incarnation before being born as Prince Siddhartha. On this day, the monks give a sermon of all chapter of the Vessantara Jataka (the life story of Lord Buddha as Prince Vestsantara).
Lao New Year (Pi Mai Lao)
New Year (Songkran) celebrations in Laos make our 31st December fireworks and Auld Lang Syne renditions seem on the sedate side. If you are visiting during New Year in April, pack a mac regardless of the forecast. These street celebrations mean one thing, water.
With water symbolising renewal in Buddhism, the New Year is welcomed with buckets, hoses, and water pistols. Whether you are staying in a remote village or the centre of a city, chances are you will be the victim of an enthusiastic dousing. Songkran is officially a three-day public holiday, but many people take the whole week off. Some attractions will be closed at this time and it is worth booking accommodation in advance.
That Luang Festival
This is Vientiane’s most important celebration to show honor to the national symbol of Laos, the Golden Stupa Pha That Luang. The ceremony will last three days during the full moon of the 12th lunar month. On this day, Lao people nearby Vientiane will proceed to the Great Stupa with their best clothes. The group, on reaching the stupa, will be led by a monk chanting the ancient words of Buddha. Then, they will walk around it three times slowly.
The next morning, people will bring their offerings inside the cloister, preparing to make offering and listen to prayers from the monks. In the afternoon, people will gather on the esplanade to watch the traditional game of Tikhy (very similar game to hockey). The area get most crowded in the last days of That Luang festival.