LAOS EVENTS & FESTIVALS KHAMMOUANE

LAOS celebrate several annual festivals called " Boun" particularly enjoyable and beautiful aspects of the traditional Lao lifestyle . Most festivals are connected with religion and the yearly rice farming cycle; while the timing of the festivals is calculated according to the Buddhist lunar calendar.

EVENTS & FESTIVALS IN KHAMMOUANE

20^TH -25^TH FEBRUARY ( OR THE THIRD LUNAR MONTH OF THE LAO CALENDAR)

BOUN PHA THAT SIKHOTTABONG ( SIKHOTTABONG STUPA FESTIVAL)

During the full moon in February, the spectacular Sikhottabong festival is celebrated over several days. Sikhottabong stupa is an old architecture of the Thakhek , Khammouane and Lao People. In the full moon of the the third month, the annual rite was organized by the Khammouane people and other provinces involving people from Isarn Thailand, Nakorn Phnom and the nearby provinces to gather for stupa worshipping and entertainment. This is a special time to pay homage to one of the most sacred Buddhist stupas in the region.

MARCH APRIL BOUN PHA VET

A ceremony of offering donations to have one’s future read from a drawn piece of paper during this 3 day 3 night festival.

14^th -16^th BOUN PI MAI LAO ( LAO NEW YEAR)

Pi Mai Lao, celebrated during the week of 14^th -16^th April features the Nang Sangkhan Parade and many days of festive water splashing and house warming parties. Other festivals are celebrated in villages throughout Khammouane province at different times of the year.

15^TH 30 MAY BOUN BANG FAI ( ROCKET FESTIVAL)

Villagers make rockets from bamboo and homemade gunpowder  dress decadently and parade their rockets noisily around the village before competing with each other to “ unleash the monsoon rains”

by blasting their rockets into the sky. This festival often occurs in May before preparing the rice fields for the new growing season.

24^th MAY BOUN VISAKHA BOUCHA DAY

This festival is held during the sixth full moon of the lunar calendar. Candlelight processions are held in temples to mark the birth date of Buddha.

22^nd JULY ( OR EIGHT LUNAR MONTH OF BUDDHIST CALENDAR)

BUDDHIST LENT ( BOUN ASALAHABOUCHA AND BOUN KHAO PANSA)

This is the beginning of the Buddhist Lent . During the next 3 month period, monks spend most of their time in prayer and meditation and are restricted from spending nights in temples other than their own.

4^th SEPTEMBER BOUN KHAO PADAB DIN ( RICE GROWING FESTIVAL  DAY)

At the Khao Padabdin ceremony day , people visit local temples to make offerings to dead ancestor as well as to share merit making.

19^th SEPTEMBER BOUN KHAO SALAK ( ANCESTOR FESTIVAL DAY)

This is for offerings to be made for dead ancestor to obtain merit, while popular and exciting longboat races are held to celebrate the river . This festival is held during the tenth full moon of the lunar calendar.

19^th - 20^th OCTOBER BOUN ORK PHANSA ( END OF BUDDHIST LENT)

At dawn, on the first day, donation and offerings are made at temples around the city . In the evening, candlelight processions are held around the temples and hundreds of colourful floats decorated with flowers , incense and candles are set adrift down the river to give thanks to the river spirit.

19^th - 22th OCTOBER BOUN SOUANG HEUA ( BOAT RACING FESTIVAL)

This colourful event, usually occurring in October, is one of the first festivals after the end of Buddhist lent ( Ork Phansaa) and is the exciting start of festival season.

In Thakhek, the boat racing festival is a major event. It’s both very colourful and very competitive . Boat races are held on the Mekong River with teams from Thailand and other Lao provinces competing each year.

25^th -30^th NOVEMBER BOUN KONG KHAO OR BOUN KHAI PATOU LAU (OPENING OF THE RICE STORE)

These celebrations usually happen after harvest in November, although some villages store newly harvested rice until February and then celebrate. In this festival, various households host a progressive dinner with eating, drinking and a lot of loud music and dancing.

THE BACI CEREMONY

The Baci ceremony is performed by Lao people for many things : to welcome you or send you off from their village, make a wedding ceremony sacred , as a gesture of reconciliation or to help cure sickness.

Most baci ceremonies require a phakwaan as the centerpiece, made from folded banana leaves decorated with flowers, adorned with cotton strings and a candle on the top. Other elements of the phakwaan are Lao whisky, boiled chicken and a respected elder of the village to chant a mantra.

NATURAL DYES AND TEXTILES

Many villages here in Khammouane maintain their tradition of textile weaving. The pattern are often a mark of their cultural identity. Not only do the village women spin ,dye and weave these textiles by themselves ,but they usually grow the cotton too. Some individuals maintain the use of natural dyes collected from plants around their village. If you plan to purchase a textile, remember that buying naturally dyed pieces promote the preservation of indigenous knowledge about the collection and extraction of natural dyes and their use in the weaving process.

BASKETRY

Basket weaving is usually practice by the men of the village during the dry season. Almost all fish traps are woven from bamboo or rattan, as are sticky rice baskets, furniture and other containers.