In February, Laos celebrates several festivals that are deeply rooted in its culture and traditions.
One of the most important festivals is Magha Puja which is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the month.
- Marha Puha (or Makka Bu-sao)
- Vietnamese Tet and Chinese New Year
- Sikhotabong Festival
- Wat Phu festival
1. Marha Puha (or Makka Bu-sao)
Held on the night of the full moon, this festival commemorates a speech given by the Buddha to 1,250 enlightened monks who came to hear him without prior summons. In the talk, the Buddha laid down the first monastic regulations and predicted his own death.
Chanting and offerings mark the festival, culminating in the candlelit circumambulation of wats (temples) throughout the country (celebrated most fervently in Vientiane and at the Khmer ruins of Wat Phu, near Champasak).
The festival is marked by grand parades of candle-bearing worshippers circling their local temples, merit-making, and much religious music and chanting.
2. Vietnamese Tet and Chinese New Year
This traditional festival is celebrated in Vientiane, Pakse and Savannakhet with parties, and hundreds of strings of non-stop firecrackers, merit making with noisy parties and visits to Vietnamese and Chinese temples by the larger Vietnamese and Chinese communities, who close their businesses for several days during this period.
3. Sikhotabong Festival
Organized in Khammouan from Feb 5 to Feb 8, this religious festival is held at Sikhottabong stupa, located about 6 km south of Thakhek.
Historically, it was built in the 8th and 10th centuries by King Nanthasene. Then the stupa was restored as its original design in the 1950's.
4. Wat Phu festival
It is organized annually in Champasak from Feb 5 to Feb 8, in the full moon of the 3rd month of lunar calendar, on the grounds of the enchanting pre-Angkorian. Wat Phu remains in Champasak. Festivities are elephants racing, buffaloes fighting, cocks fighting and performances of Lao traditional music and dance. The trade fair showcasing the products from the southern province of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam is also held.