Events & Festivals in Laos

Laos has many festivals, or Boun scattered throughout the year to commemorate various aspects of traditional Lao lifestyle and culture. Most festivals are connected with religion and follow the rice farming seasonal cycle. The timing each festivals is calculated according to the Buddhist lunar calendar which changes every year. Please check the latest information before attending these events.

July

Boun Khao Phansa (Buddhist Lent) - 13th (2022), 3rd (2023), 20th (2024)

Held on the full moon, this festival marks the beginning of Buddhist Lent, the three-month period of monastic seclusion and meditation during the rainy season, when monks are required to stay within their wat. Monks are traditionally ordained during this period.

Many devout people often abstain from alcohol during this time. In the early morning of Boun Khao Phansa, people prepare donations of food, especially “Khao Tom” (cooked sticky rice wrapped in banana leave), and necessities like soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and towels for the monks. Most temples are busy during this time with people making merit and giving donations. At the end of these merit-making activities, the monks will recite the teaching of Buddha and tell the history of the Buddhist Lent to temple-goers. Later in the evening, monks, and novices cannot leave their monasteries to become lay-people and traditionally lay-people are not allowed to get married until the end of the Buddhist Lent or Ok Phansa. Ok Pansa is one of the most beautiful times to visit Laos (See October).

Lao Womens Union Day - 20th

Lao Women's Union Establishment Day is a public holiday in Lao, observed on July 20th each year. If July 20th falls on a weekend, the public holiday will be observed on the following Monday.

This day marks the establishment of the Lao Women’s Union on this day in 1955.