This year’s Vat Phou Festival will take place on 6-8 February 2020.
The festival, held annually on the 15th day of the increasing moon of the 3rd lunar month (in January-February), coincides with the Makha Busa Buddhist Festival.
Believers often travel great distances to attend the ceremony, with some venturing from Thailand and Cambodia. The festival also presents an opportunity for people from the surrounding plains and mountains to meet and maintain age-old relationships.
Processions, recitals, and chants take place during the three-day festival. Boat racing in dugouts, competitions like “catch-ducks”, volleyball and petanque are also organized. Sometimes, elephant processions, buffalo and cock fights, dances, and concerts are also presented.
Local authorities hold the annual Vat Phou Festival to maintain traditions and preserve the sacred sense of this UNESCO World Heritage site.
To visit Vat Phou’s website, click here.