The 5th Lunar month of the Buddhist calendar is in April, when there are the New Year festivities, during which, there is the water festival. This lasts 3 days, the last day of the year, the neutral day, and the first day of the next year. During this period, many flowers have opened, especially the small Lao orchids, which normally flower, for just one week, during Pimay !
During these 3 days of festivities, everybody throws water at each other. Historically, only women had the right to throw water on men, but what used to be a tradition and a symbol, has become a sort of huge carnival. (...)

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Each year in June, on different dates for each "village" (we could even say each district of Luang Prabang), village celebrations gather together all the inhabitants. The tradition calls for the bonzes to hold a white thread all around the village while chanting to ask the spirits for good luck. Good luck so as to drive away evil spirits, to protect the village, its houses and inhabitants.
At the end of the afternoon, round about 4 o’clock, carpets are laid out in the middle of the village’s main street. Offerings are set out on the ground around the bonzes and a litany starts which will (...)

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In 2005, Laos celebrated the 30 year anniversary of the destitution of the King, the 17th of August 1975, and the arrival of the communist government on the 2nd of December, their National Day. For these two reasons, celebrations were prepared, starting at dawn and mobilising all the villages around Luang Prabang. For once, the morning collection would find less Buddhists than usual to give them food.
For several weeks, the army, the police, the schools, and the ethnical groups, practise for their parade in the stadium. For 2 hours, thousands of participants, and just as many spectators (...)

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Lao marriages take place over a period of 2 days. The evening before the ceremony, the bonzes come to bless the future house of the married couple. Later there will be a communal “stag and doe” party for the future spouses. Family and friends will gather to drink and celebrate the event of the next day. The future couple, are supposedly virgins, and are not allowed to sleep together either that night or the following night.
The next day, a procession goes all through the town to tell all the inhabitants about the marriage, then everybody meets up at the future couples house. The man, with (...)

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Death. Even though it is painful, it is also looked on as a deliverance by Buddhist religion; which leads to reincarnation or Nirvana (the end of the reincarnation cycle.)
For several days, the coffin stays in the middle of the main room of the house, where close member of the family eat, drink, play cards and have a good time. Crying could hold back the dead person’s spirit which would then be held between the two worlds . Its preferable to hold back one’s tears, even if ...
Then there’s the cremation, where hundreds of people, neighbours, friends, members of the family who sometimes (...)

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This parade took place on the morning of the 2nd of March 2008. Some domestic elephants were gathered in the centre of Luang Prabang to be the centre of an event organised by the town. After the traditional Thak Bat (the ceremony of offerings to the bonzes of the pagodas), the procession gets ready to start the parade around 8 o’clock. On that morning, Laotians and visitors were crowded on the pavements earlier than usual.
Hundreds of participants, organised by association or by ethnical groups opened the ball which is closed by the elephants, clothed for the event in special festive (...)

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Approximately 90 miles North of Luang Prabang, the village of Mouang Ngoi is one of the most beautiful areas in Laos. Hidden on a plain beside the river Nam Ou, which is one of the rivers which have the most fish, there are approximately 1000 inhabitants which make it one of the largest villages in the region. Accessible only by river, Mouang Ngoi is very much appreciated by visitors looking for tranquillity, serenity and peace.
They have lived autonomously for more than 30 years and after opening up to tourists at the beginning of the years 2000, the village developed very quickly. (...)

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Its on the day of Hok Phansa, "the end of the bonzes 3 month retreat” that the pirogue races of Xieng Ngeun take place. They are the last of the year, and mark the end of the rainy season.
For this event, a large celebration is organised each year in this small village, situated about twenty miles from Luang Prabang and which unites thousands of people from all over the Province.
After having participated in the Tak Bat donations, which are especially important on this almost religious day, the only road to Xieng Ngeun is flanked by many makeshift stalls made of bamboo and covered with (...)

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