Sanctuary Hotels and Resorts is celebrating Awk Phansa (end of Buddhist Lent) and the “Fire Boat Festival” on 24-25 October with activities in Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng.
The fun kicks off with the “Boun Souang Heua” Boat Racing Festival on Vang Vieng’s Nam Song River on 24 October. Guests at the Sanctuary Nam Ngum Beach Resort can take the hotel’s fee daily shuttle to cheer on the paddlers.
The celebration shifts to the Sanctuary Luang Prabang Hotel the next day for Lai Heua Fai…”The Fireboat Festival”. The hotel is offering a “Kratong” workshop from 14:00-16:00 to learn about this local tradition and decorate your own kratong (floating basket).
Guests can then set off in the early evening to the Mekong River with their homemade creation to release it and wish for good luck for the future at the Fireboat Festival.
During the Lai Fai Heua ceremony, locals go to great lengths to prepare small, candlelit homemade boats made from bamboo and palm leafs. More sophisticated boats carry oil lamps.
