That Luang Festival and Trade Fair in Vientiane Capital
2023-11-23 - 2023-11-27
Boun Pha That Luang is the most meaningful festival in Vientiane Capital as well as in the Lao PDR. It is held over three to seven days during the full moon of the twenty-fifth lunar month (November, but sometimes it is at the end of October). The festival starts with a colorful candlelight wax castle (Phasat Pheung) procession which starts the evening before at Vat Simeuang. The procession continues to the next afternoon from Vat Simeuang to Pha That Luang. People carry flowers, candles, incense and wax castles decorated with flowers and bank notes. People wear their best clothes for this procession and there is also a parade of the men and women dressed in various Loa ethnic costumes who dance and play traditional music and songs while approaching the stupa. The s-called wax castles have been a part of Lao lifestyle for many years, and bringing one to Pha that Luang on this occasion is believed to bring considerable merit.
The following morning, a huge crowd assembles at dawn at Pha That Luang to give alms to hundreds of monks who come here from around the country, and to play homage to the stupa. In the afternoon, everyone will gather on the esplanade for the traditional game of Ti Khee, which is played with a ball and long curved stick, resembling a game of hockey. The festival draws to close under a full moon when people from all over Laos will crowd around Pha That Luang for one last candlelight procession. There are also fire work displays to make the end of the celebration. During the Pha That Luang stupa festival, there are trade fairs, concerts and fun fairs held.

Lhai Heua Fai, Festival of the Boats of Light in Luang Prabang Province
2023-10-30 18:00 - 22:00 (Asia/Vientiane)
Boun Lai Heua Fai is a festival for the Phanang Naga which is held during Boun Xouang Heua in order to bring good luck. Each village in many provinces makes and decorates a boat. The boats are then paraded through the town, at night they are lunched onto the river and ceremoniously set on fire as offerings to spirits. This festival involves floating the ritual flowers onto the river, to send of bad luck and give thanks to the water spirits. When holding boat race, people ritually reclaim the land from the Naga, chasing them out from fields and streams and back into the Mekong River.

Boun Ork Phansa (The end of buddhist lent)
2023-10-29
Boun Ork Phansa is the last day of Buddhist Lent. It occurs on the 15th day of the 11th month of the lunar calendar. In the morning, donations and offering are made at temples around the country. In the evening candlelight processions are held around the temples while hundreds around of colorful floats decorated with flowers, incense and candles are set adrift down and rivers giving thanks to the river spirit (Lai Heua Fai). They are said to pay respect to the Buddha and to thank the mother of rivers for providing water for our lives as well as to ask for blessing and to float the bad luck for the past year away, enabling the good luck to flow in. Villagers who live far from rivers set up model boat made of banana stems and decorated with flowers and candlelight, while other simply light up some candles in front of their houses and do their prayer, wishing for good luck. This colorful ritual has been carried on by Lao people for thousands of years.

Naga Rocket in Bolikhamxay Province
2023-10-29
The fireballs coming out from the water’s surface can be seen once a year on the last night of the Lao Buddhist Lent. The Naga Rockets can be spotted where the Nam Ngum and the Mekong river meet in Thaprabath District, Bolikhamxay Province, as well as in Pak Ngum District, 60 kilometers east of Vientiane.

Boun Khao Salak Ancestor Festival
2023-09-29
This festival occurs during the 10th full moon of the lunar calendar. The purpose of the festival is to obtain merit by providing offerings to dead ancestors. The offerings to the dead are passed to monks during the morning ceremony at the temple, just after almsgiving. A basket is filled with food and daily amenities such as soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, cigarettes, etc. along with the names of the dead people the family wish to honor. The monks or novice the basket, then draws the names from the basket. In the evening at 7pm to 8pm, it is the for a candlelight procession (Wien Tien). Afterwards, the candles, incense the flowers are placed near the side of the Sim.

Boat Racing Festival in Luang Prabang
2023-09-14
At the Khao Padabdin ceremony day, people visit local temples to make offerings to dead ancestors as well as to share merit-making. This festival includes boat racing on the Nam Khan River and a trade fair in Luang Prabang World Heritage town.

Boun Khao Padabdin (Rice Growing Festival)
2023-09-14
Boun Hor Khao Padabdin (the literal translation is decorate (padab) dirtearth (din))starts in the middle of the rainy season. This festival is held in commemoration of dead ancestors. Over two days, Buddhist devotees flock to the Vats (temples) carrying strays of offerings for monks and deceased ancestor. Music is traditionally performed in the grounds of the Vat while people make their donations. During Boun Khao Phansapadabdin, each household cooks a number of “khao Tom” to give to relatives and friends and some are reserved for giving alms to the monks. In the early morning at 4am to 5am, people place the “khao tom” and other food wrapped in banana leave or lotus leave in the four corners outside one’s house, the stairs, the spirit house, the rice storehouse, and on the gate, as well as on the ground so that the sprit can reach them. It is also the time to shoe respect to “Mae Thoranii” (the Earth God).

Asalahaboucha Day and Boun Khao Phansa Festival (Buddhist Lent)
2023-08-01
Boun Khao Phansa is held at the beginning of the Buddhist lent. Over the following three month, monks spend most of their time in prayer and meditation and are restricted from spending nights in other temples out of their own. Many devout people often abstain from alcohol during this time. In the early morning of Boun Khao Phansa, people prepare donations of food, especially “Khao Tom” (cooked sticky rice wrapped in banana leave) and necessities like soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and towels for the monks. Most temples are busy during this time with people making merit and giving their donations. At the end of these merit making activities, the monks will recite the teaching of Buddha and tell the history of the Buddhist Lent to temples-goers. Later in the evening, monks, novices cannot leave their monasteries to become lay-people and traditionally lay-people are not allowed to get married until the end of the Buddhist Lent or Ork Phansa.

Pimai Lao/Lao New Year
2023-04-14 - 2023-04-16 | Nationwide
Lao New Year begins at the same time each year and lasts for three days (April 14th-16th). It is one of the most important dates in the calendar as well as being a time of celebrate and endless fun. The festival is held before the onset of the rainy season to recognize the importance of water in people’s lives. It has also become synonymous with holiday, the celebration of Lao identity, the reinforcement of family bonds and an opportunity to reflect on the year ahead. Lao New Year celebrate in all Provinces, especially in Luang Prabang Province and Vientiane Capital. It is also a purification festival during which the Buddhist images in the household and the temples are ritually cleaned with sacred water.
The first day (14th) is the last day of the old year. House and villages are properly cleaned on the first day. Perfume, water and flowers are also prepared for the Lao New Year. Buddhist images are taken out of the temples to be cleaned with scented water by devotees, and placed on special temporary altars within the compounds of Vats (temples). Devotees gather the scented water falling of the images to take home and use it to pour on friends and relatives, as an act of cleansing and purification before entering the New Year. The second day (15th) of the festival is the “day of no day”, a day that falls in neither the old year nor the New Year. The last day (16th) of the festival marks the start of the New Year. In the evening of the 16th, the images are returned to their proper shrines within the temples. Throughout the three days of the festival, a lot of meaningful and joyful activities are held nationwide, mainly basic or Soo Kwan (tying cotton strings around people’s wrists), water splashing, sand stupa building and a beauty pageant.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN DAY
2023-03-08

Vat Phou Festival
2023-02-03 - 2023-02-05
This is the largest festival in Champasack Province and one of the largest festivals in the entire country. It is held annually on the grounds of the enchanting pre-Angkorian remains of Vat Phou in Champasack. This festival attracts thousands of people each year, who come for prayer ceremonies and to enjoy the festivities. There is elephant racing, buffalo fighting, cock fighting and performances of Lao traditional music and dances. There is also a trade fair showcasing the products from the southern provinces of Laos, and from the neighbouring countries

Chinese Lunar New Year
2023-01-20

Happy New Year 2023
2023-01-01

Vientiane International Marathon
2022-12-25
Register now (Expats)
https://checkpointspot.asia/…/Vientiane-International…
.
Register now (Foreigner)
https://endurancecui.active.com/event-reg/select-race…

Orange Festival 2022
2022-12-23 - 2023-01-03

Cherry Blossoms Festival
2022-12-23 - 2022-12-26 | Houaphanh Province
Cherry Blossoms festival will be held between 23-26 December 2022 in Xam Neua and Vieng Xay Districts, Xam Neua Province. Activities in the festival are included:

The annual contest of Miss Dok Khai Pa
Singers contest
Local products fair
Planting Dok Khai Pa (Cherry blossom) ceremony
Visit the cherry blossoms at the Lao-Japanese Friendship Garden in Vieng Xay District.
Taking photo of cherry blossoms at various points in Xam Neu and Vieng Xay Districts.

Film Festival in Luang Prabang
2022-12-08 18:00 - 2022-12-11 23:30 | Luang Prabang Province
The UNESCO Heritage town of Luang Prabang in Laos will once again host a film festival, previously known as the Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF).
With a rich history of connecting regional filmmakers, supporting the Lao domestic film industry, and presenting an annual free festival, LPFF has been a force in the region for more than 12 years.
Organizers have recently acquiesced to a name change in order to continue to produce this year’s event, scheduled for 8 – 11 December, and will move forward using only the iconic blue chair to identify the festival.
As always, official selections for the annual program were made by filmmakers and critics from across Southeast Asia and represent a curated selection of the finest contemporary films from their respective countries. By working with talented curators with an inside understanding of their communities’ film scenes, LPFF annually presents a unique program that consistently delivers some of the strongest voices from across the region.
Presenting Partners of the festival this year include Lao Telecom, The Asia Foundation, M Money, and Beerlao; the event is produced in collaboration with the Luang Prabang Department of Culture, Information, and Tourism. Longtime partners Avani+ Luang Prabang and Sofitel Luang Prabang are supporting the event again, as well.
Of special interest this year is a pair of films with roots in the LPFF Talent Lab — both Martika Ramirez Escobar and Kavich Neang joined the inaugural lab in 2016, delivered in conjunction with the erstwhile Tribeca Film Institute. This year sees their finished projects, Leonor Will Never Die and White Building, respectively, on screens in Luang Prabang.
And a pair of Lao productions will premiere at the festival this year — Sonepasith Phanphila’s Absence of Sound, made in Luang Prabang itself, and Phanumad Disattha’s short film, Fly Sandy Fly, presented by T Plus during the festival’s opening ceremony, which starts at 6 pm on 8 December.
As always, all screenings are free and open to the public.

The European Food and Film Festival
2022-12-02 - 2022-12-04 | Vientiane Center, Khouvieng Road, Vientiane Capital, Lao People's Democratic Republic
The European Union Delegation to Lao PDR is happy to inform you that the European Food and Film Festival is back!

The Festival will present 10+ European films, reflecting the diversity of perspectives, histories and national cultures of Europe, while promoting cultural cooperation between Europe and Lao PDR. Films on offer include science fiction, documentaries, cartoons for children and grown-ups, and historical dramas.

Entry to all films will be free of charge.

In combination with the Film Festival, the ninth European Food Festival will take place outside the main entrance of the Vientiane Centre, offering food from Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain. The Lao audience will have a chance to enjoy a journey through the amazing culinary world of Europe at a reasonable price.

Please mark the dates in your diary, and pass the message to your friends, colleagues and their families. We look forward to seeing you there.

Stay tuned a full programme will be shared soon

Lao National Day
2022-12-02 | Nationwide
This celebrates the 1975 victory of the proletariat over the monarchy with parades, speeches, etc. Lao national and communist hammer and sickle flags are flown all over the country. Celebration is mandatory, hence poorer communities postpone some of the traditional Ok Phansa activities usually practiced roughly a month earlier-until National Day, thus saving themselves considerable expense.

Traditional Cotton Festival
2022-11-25 - 2022-12-02 | Oudomxay Province
Traditional Cotton Festival will be held between 25th November to 2nd December in Beng District, Oudomxay Province. In the event there are a variety of local products. Every night, there will be traditional dancing and singing show.

DCIM100MEDIADJI_0080.JPG

DCIM100MEDIADJI_0120.JPG

The Tripitaka Cultural Heritage Festival
2022-11-21 - 2022-11-27 | Salavanh Province
The Tripitaka Cultural Heritage Festival, Lamvong Salavanh during November 21-27, 2022 in Salavanh Province.
In the event there will be 7 main activities and there will be an exhibition of unique traditional Lao musical instruments such as Lao products (ornamental kans, gift kans, souvenirs).

That Luang Festival
2022-11-04 - 2022-11-08
