Champa Meuanglao
Menu
  • Home
  • Section
    • Business
    • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Lao Airlines
  • Contact
  • on ISSUU
  • Advertise with us!
  • ພາສາ: English
    • English English
    • ລາວ ລາວ
  • laoairlines.com
Champa Meuanglao
  • Home
  • Section
    • Business
    • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Lao Airlines
  • Contact
  • on ISSUU
  • Advertise with us!
  • ພາສາ: English
    • English English
    • ລາວ ລາວ
  • laoairlines.com
Festival, Travel

Wet Wet Wet

posted by Billy
Mar 16, 2022 674 0 0
Share

Ring in the New Year – Lao Style

In April, Laos partakes in the biggest and wettest street bash of the year. This is the main event of the holiday calendar and it’s an especially large event in Luang Prabang. It might seem strange to hold New Year in April but Laos follows a traditional calendar and is closely tied to the vernal equinox.

Rituals abound over the holidays, particularly involving water, as it’s the time to cleanse, purify and wash the old year’s bad luck away. People like to pour water over other people while recanting a new year’s wish, and it is poor form to refuse. Your valuables will get wet, so put them in a plastic bag, wrap your camera in something waterproof and prepare to be soaked. Policemen, nuns, monks, and grannies are not exempt from the water throwing, so be gracious and accept the libation. Flour, food coloring, and black pan grease could also grace your clothing, so don’t wear your best outfit. The timing is apt as April is the hottest month of the year, it feels refreshing having someone pour icy cold water on you while wishing a sabaidee pi mai (Happy New Year).

Officially spread over three days from 14 to 16 April, the real celebrations often last about a week. Local belief dictates that the first day of celebration is the last day of the old year, the middle day is a day in limbo between both years, and the final day is the first day of the New Year.

In Luang Prabang, on 13 April, a day before the official holiday starts, an elephant procession starts in the morning from Wat Mai to Wat Xieng Thong. Elephants are significant in the history of Laos and this event symbolizes their training for battle. Throughout this period, people also visit their local temples to wash the Buddha images to build merit and even hold family gatherings at a spot such as Kuangsi Waterfall.

On the first official day (14 April), a street fair is held at the town’s main junction where you can find heaps of waterproof pouches for your essentials, sunglasses, floral shirts, and water guns, all de rigueur for the festival. You might notice the local dress code, it’s become a tradition to wear bright flowery shirts and if you are a couple, matching shirts.

Later that afternoon, the party moves out into the Mekong when people take boats to a sandy island to build sand stupas which are decorated with flowers and banners. This stems from a Buddhist tale where each grain of sand used to build a stupa will absolve one sin.

The second day is the day suspended between the old year and the new. An afternoon parade makes its way down the main street to Wat Xieng Thong. Composed of different ethnic groups in costume, various business organizations, and a large quotient of orange-clad monks, the procession is a lively affair and most of the town turns out to watch and throw water on the participants. Elements from traditional folklore such as the ancestor spirits of Luang Prabang, Pou Nyeu and Nya Nyeu, as well as masked Ramayana dancers from the Phalak Phalam Theater also walk the route, usually accompanied by beating drums and music.

Each year, local girls vie for the prestigious Miss New Year title Nang Sangkhan and the chance to ride atop the most eye-catching float of the parade. At the end of the procession, she comes riding a giant animal, including tigers, peacocks, buffalo, a garuda, and even a donkey. Symbolically, she represents one of the seven daughters of King Kabinlaphom, and this year she will be the manifestation of Princess Kirinithevi. She will be standing atop an elephant, wearing emerald green, holding a mahout’s hook in her right hand and a gun in her left hand. The animal, the way she is sitting or standing, what colors she wears, and what she holds in her hand are significant and determined by detailed astrological calculations. After the procession, many people drive around and engage in water fights from trucks and motorbikes and visit friends’ houses to splash water, exchange blessings, and enjoy a beer.

On 16 April, the final day starts early with giving alms to the monks as they walk through town. If you are feeling energetic you can climb to the top of Phou Si Hill to make offerings of sticky rice to the spirits. In the afternoon, the previous day’s procession returns in the opposite direction from Wat Xieng Thong up the main street, while people continue to throw water and party in their homes, as well as hold baci blessing ceremonies to bring good luck for the new year. The evening hosts a special procession of lanterns that descends Phou Si Hill at dusk, while masked dancers perform scenes from the Ramayana for the public.

The following day, calmer, more serious activities take place. Laos’ most venerated Buddha image, the Prabang, is paraded from its home at the Haw Prabang to Wat Mai, where a pavilion is set up to protect the golden statue. For the next three days, locals and visitors offer flowers and candles, pour water over the statue, and pray for blessings. Do remember to dress appropriately; women should wear sinh skirts and everyone must wear a shoulder scarf to participate and build good karma for the coming year.

Text by Anita Preston
Photographs by Anita Preston / Evensong Film

Luang Prabangtravel
Share

Previous

Here at Last !

Next

[:en]Dreams on Canvas[:la]ແຕ່ງແຕ້ມຄວາມຝັນຜ່ານສອງຝາມື[:]
  • English
  • ລາວ

Recent Posts

  • City of Saffron, City of Faith
  • SAYABOURY’S ELEVEN DISTRICT
  • Spotlight on Sayaboury
  • New Year Lao Style
  • Lasting Laos

Categories

  • Art
  • Business
  • Café
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Festival
  • Food
  • Lao Airlines
  • Lasting Laos
  • Lifestyle
  • Outdoors
  • Social Enterprise
  • Stay
  • Style
  • Travel

Archives

  • March 2023
  • January 2023
  • November 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • May 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • September 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017

Follow Us

Contact Form 7

Error: Contact form not found.

You Might Also Like

Lifestyle, Travel
May 1, 2020

Mekong Kingdoms

Cruising Laos in style. Mist wreathed the mountain tops like candy floss beards as we pulled away from the...

Read More
1 0
Outdoors, Travel
Sep 4, 2020

Phou Ya Kha

The Phou Ya Kha area in Oudomxay’s Xay District has only recently been explored for tourism. This rocky mountainous...

Read More
1 0
Copyrights © 2018 Champa Meuanglao. All Rights Reserved.
Website by Designix Studio
Back top