Elephant Festival in Xayaboury
Ach February tourists can experience the biggest gathering and worshipping of domesticated elephants in Laos. Held in Xayaboury Province, this annual festival attracts over 80,000 spectators. They celebrate the traditional use of ...
Pi Mai Festival (Lao New Year)
April 13 – 15 every year sees the breadth and width of Laos come as close to a grinding halt as possible. This is the celebration of Pi Mai Lao, the festival dedicated to saying good-bye to what has been, and wishing one and all good tidings and blessings of what will come.
Boun Ok Phansaa celebrates the end of Buddhist Lent. During this beautiful and spiritual time the faithful take offerings of food, sweets, money as well as other necessary items to their local temple.
In the sixth lunar month the Lao turn their gaze to the heavens in what is arguably the most fun and entertaining festival of the year. The rocket festival – Bang Fay – has the ability to make heroes and zeroes, all in the name of good times.
The That Luang Festival is an important Theravada Buddhist holiday for the Lao nation. The festival is held during the full moon of the 12th lunar month, usually November, at That Luang or the Great Sacred Stupa in Vientiane.
The baci ceremony flows deeply through the psyche of the Lao people; it emphasizes the value of life and forgiveness, of family and social bonds, of renewal and paying homage to heavenly beings.
Westerners may find themselves at a loss for words upon witnessing their first gathering of people to say good-bye to a departed loved one. Expecting to see anything akin to a western style funeral could not be further from the truth. Funerals in Laos are not the sad, somber affair they tend to be at home.