October - Boun Lai Heua Fai Year 2011

Rituals and festivals, whether they occur once a day or once a year, convey the spirit and essence of a culture, identifying what is unique to a locality. In Luang Prabang, the ritual cycle is dominated by Thervada Buddhist customs and traditions, integrated with tributes paid to the animistic spirits (Phi) of the land and water. Because it is the traditional center of the region in Laos and the seat of the former royal family, annual festival.

A festival for the phanga naga to bring good luck. Each village makes and decorates a boat. These boats are then paraded through the town and at night are launched on the river and ceremonially set on fire as offerings to spirits.
This festival involves the ritual to scatter flowers, onto the river. These offerings are launched at of bad luck and give thanks to the water spirits. On holding boat races, people ritually reclaim the land from the naga, chasing them out from fields and streams and back into the Mekong River.