LAOS EVENTS & FESTIVALS - XIENG KHOUANG

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 XIENG KHOUANG

KUD CHIN & TET VIET OR ( CHINESE & VIETNAMESE NEW YEAR)

JANAURY –FEBRUARY

CHINESE AND VIETNAMESE LUNAR NEW YEAR is celebrated with parties , fireworks and merit making at temples .Chinese and Vietnamese businesses usually close for 3 days.

14^TH – 16^TH APRIL  LAO NEW YEAR( BOUN PI MAI LAO)

During the week of 14^th -16^th in APRIL, the whole country celebrates, Buddha images are cleansed with sacred water and in the temples , offerings of fruit  and flowers are made. People take to the streets splashing water on one another and having parties everywhere . In Xieng Khouang, boat races take place at the Supanouvong Lake some years. Be advised that during Pi Mai Lao most businesses and government offices are closed.

28^th APRIL – 20^TH MAY ROCKET FESTIVAL ( BOUN BANG FAI)

Boun Bang Fai is a rainmaking and fertility festival that takes place just before the rainy season. Villagers make rockets from bamboo and homemade gunpowder and parade their colourful rockets noisily around the village before they are shot into the sky to “ fertilize” the clouds and bring rain, which in turn , feeds the rivers and fields.

22^nd JULY BUDDHIST LENT ( BOUN KHAO PANSA)

This festival, held on the full moon , marks the beginning of Buddhist lent, a 3 month period where monks are required to stay within their temple to pray and meditate. Lao men are traditionally ordained as monks during this time.

4^th SEPTEMBER BOUN KHAO PADAP DIN

Special offerings are made to the deceased on the new moon of the 9^th lunar month; this ceremony is an offering of the Ancestors’ Spirits . It is a tradition that at this time of the year those spirits are believed to have been released from the “ plain of hell” to receive offerings.

19^th OCTOBER END OF BUDDHIST LENT ( BOUN ORK PANSA)

Held on the full moon, this festival celebrates the end of Buddhist lent. In the evening small banana leaf boats called heua fai are launched onto the river and lake; they are filled with colourful incense, flowers a, candles and a small amount of money to bring luck and prosperity.

25^th DECEMBER -15^TH JANUARY  HMONG NEW YEAR ( BOUN KINCHIENG)

Hmong New Year, Xieng , Khounag’s most colourful festival attract crowds of people from around the province, as well as Hmong from overseas. The festival is celebrated in December , starting from the 15^th day of the ascending moon to give thanks to ancestors and spirits at the end of the annual agricultural cycle. Traditionally it lasts 10 days, bringing people together from many villages and it is here that young people typically find a husband and a wife. The celebrations involve colourful displays of traditional Hmong instruments such as the teun –flute , the Hmong Khaen and leaf blowing. Other festivities include the Makkhon ( cotton ball ) throwing ceremony as part of a charming courting ritual, along with crossbow competitions and traditional games such as bull fighting and top spinning.

Khmu New Year is celebrated within the Khmu communities in late December following the annual rice harvest.

THE BACI CEREMONY

Spiritualism and ritualistic practices are important to most Lao people. The Baci is an ancient pre Buddhist ritual traditionally conducted by Tai speakers. The Baci is the most popular Lao traditional ceremony celebrated at special events, whether a marriage, a homecoming, a welcome, a birth or even to help cure sickness. It involves the ritualistic tying of cotton threads to ensure blessings of the spirits on specific persons, activities, or places. It is an important gesture of reconciliation and is believed to restore the natural order of things.