HOLYDAYS & FESTIVALS
PCHUM BHEN KING'S BIRTHDAY KHMER NEW YEAR ANGKOR FESTIVAL ROYAL PLOWING DAY INDEPENDENCE DAY CHINESE NEW YEAR NATION DAY MARATHON
Please contact us to get more information
Cambodia has it's own old traditions of regional and international festivals. Rural people, a majority of country's population, coming to the capital, Phnom Penh, in time of celebrations. They like to take part in street festivals, religious ceremonies and to look at firework displays, which are an integral part of every nation-wide event.
Festivals are a time for bringing people together, helping them to understand community values and traditions. This is important as a way of building perspectives, of creating hope for the future. Owing to the massacres during the Pol Pot period Cambodia demographically has a very young population. Even in hard times people make every effort for the festivities to be real holidays, making of them "light days" against an often gray and dark routine.
All traditional festivals in Cambodia are closely connected with Buddhist and Hindu traditions as well as with royal ceremonies. The holydays and festivals listed below are the most meaningful for the citizens of the country.
WATER FESTIVAL (October or November)
This is, probably, the most extravagant festival of the year. It lasts for three days from the day of the last full moon in October or beginning of November. Millions of people all around the country coming to the banks of the Mekong River and Tonle Sap lake to see fifty-scull boats racing. Racing is a reminder of the times when the powerful fleet of the Khmer Empire controlled the seas all around South-East Asia. At that time the Khmers were the strongest military power in the region. At night brightly decorated boats float down the river and on the banks people enjoy multicolored firework displays. Quite often at the same time another festival is held at Angkor Wat, however it is probably not as interesting as the Phnom Penh festival.
The Festival of water is dedicated to a unique natural phenomenon: in the rainy season Tonle Sap river fills its namesake lake, which enlarges it's banks by more then 12 kilometers. In the warm season the river changes it's direction and starts to flow back out of the lake, reducing the lake again to a more normal size. Moreover, the festival is an expression of gratitude to the Mekong River for an abundant catch of fish and the flooding of fields, which is necessary in order to produce large crops of rice.
PCHUM BHEN (September)
This is the most important religious and cultural event of the year. The festival is
dedicated for the souls of ancestors, relatives and friends who are gone. All Buddhist temples, and especially Wat Phnom temple become centers during the festival. People all around the country visit temples to pray and make traditional sacrifices.
KING SIHANOUK'S BIRTHDAY (October 31)
This holiday has the purpose of paying respect to one of the most respected kings of Cambodia. Some times it is organized together with the Water Festival. Then because of the huge number of participants the festival is held in the largest park in Phnom Penh and along the city embankments. A lot of people from the different provinces come to the capital on that day to take part in celebrations and to see the exciting firework displays.
KHMER NEW YEAR (middle of April)
Khmer New Year is celebrated at the same time as Thai New Year. This holiday is nation wide. Its tradition is connected with the turn of the year according to the ancient Khmer calendar, which is marked by the end of the harvest. Rural people decorate their houses to pay respect to the Great Gods. On such days it is possible to see people of all ages armed with water pistols and buckets soaking passers-by. In this manner they bless each other, wishing prosperity and good health for the coming year. This is a most joyful holiday - smiles and laughter from the participants and water everywhere making the New Year unforgettable! Khmers accept the traditional Chinese New Year as well as the European New Year, although the later is not widely celebrated.
ANGKOR FESTIVAL (November - December)
First and foremost, this is a festival for the
traditional arts. Actors from many Asian countries demonstrate National dances, scenes from epic poems, such as Ramayana, myths and legends of Eastern cultures. Colorful National wear, dishes from National cuisines, and folk music fill every day of the festival. King Sihanouk likes to visit the festival if he is in his Siam Reap residence.
ROYAL PLOWING DAY (May)
Khmers are closely connected with earth and
agriculture. According traditional astrology, every year the Holy Buffalo decides the future of the harvest. The ceremony with its roots lost in ancient history takes place every May in a large park in Phnom Penh, near the King's Palace and National Museum. The King himself takes part in the steering of the Buffalo, making the first furrow in the earth. Following this monks bring different food and beverages for the Buffalo, and the King's prophets then start to interpret the meaning of how the Buffalo has eaten.
The celebration ceremonies for Independence Day are held on November 9 near the Independence Monument on the crossroad of Norodom and Sihanouk boulevards in Phnom Penh. On that day in 1953 Cambodia became an independent state. For many years Cambodia was part of French Indochina.
CHINESE NEW YEAR (January of February)
This holiday is quite popular in Cambodia, and especially in Phnom Penh because of the large Chinese and Vietnamese communities living in the city. Traditionally fireworks accompany every Chinese holiday or festival, including New Year. All rich families have their own firework displays, which definitely must be more noisy and colorful than their neighbors!
TThis is one of the latest holidays added to the calendar. Nation Day marks the end of Khmer Rouge regime of terror. However for many people in Cambodia this day is associated with the beginning of the Vietnamese occupation in 1979, which stopped Khmer Rouge terror but made Cambodia dependent on Vietnam.
This event is organized in Angkor Wat to bring together participants from all around the world. Thousands of spectators come to watch the marathon with the magnificent ruins of ancient Angkor Wat as a backdrop.
