The Laos Fire Boat Festival  / Festival of Lights is one of the most spectacular festivals of Laos. It’s more correctly called the Festival of the Boats of Light, or Boun Lai Heua Fai in Laos.   It is essentially the celebration of two things – the beginning of the dry season and the end of Buddhist lent. The date of the event changes each year as it is tied to the lunar calendar, and this year, festival finished on October 30, 2023, which is the day that we visited it.

Lent in Buddhism is a 3-month period in which Buddhist monks retire to the temple to devote more time to meditation and to gain a greater understanding of the Dhamma, which is the truth taught by Buddha. In seeing the Boun Lai Heua Fai you’ll be seeing both the celebration of the end of the retreat of the monks and also the end of the wet season in Laos.

Each of the 21 handmade floats is made from bamboo, banana trunks and colored paper. They are built for the festival by each family and each float was at least 25′ in length. In the evenings, various groups march down the parade route with their boats lit with live candles, live bands and dancers, singers and chanters. The floats were carried in front of judges who vote for the most beautiful float, then carried down to the Mekong River. Often times, the candles would have to be relit if blown out by the wind along the procession route. As night falls, these floats are launched onto the river, some set aflame as sacred offerings to the water spirits.

Vahn was our guide for this portion of our tour. His family was visiting the festival too, and he introduced us to them (left). This is a time when families typically gather together to pray at one of the temples, give offerings, and share a meal together. The image on the right is one of 33 wats (temples) in Luang Prabang lit by candles that were shaped like lotus flowers.

Some form of the festival of candle lights is a tradition found in many cultures. In Laos, this festival is linked to the agricultural season.

In Luang Pradang, the event is small enough where you can still walk around and experience the intimate moments.

.Many of the candles surrounding the temples were lit by the monks and by young monks-in-training. Many floating votives were available for sale for people to launch their own offerings down the river to bring good luck.