12/17/2023
October marks the end of the three-month Buddhist Lent, which is celebrated with the Awk Phansaa festival in which people release decorated boats made with banana leaves into bodies of water. Coinciding with this event are the Bun Nam (Water Festival) and Boat Racing Festival. In Vientiane, Laotians leave offerings in the city’s temples at dawn. In the evening, they set decorated floats adrift into the Mekong River to thank the spirits of the river. Boat races are held the next day.
