Cambodia Festival

Influenced by turbulent history and high concentration of Buddhist culture, Cambodia owns a series of distinctive festivals full of historical meaning and religious color. And the festivals take place according to the lunar calendar of Cambodia, so dates vary from year to year.

Experiencing the unique flavor of Khmer Festivals adds more memorable fun in the Cambodia tour. So why not plan your trip to coincide with one of Cambodia’s major festivals? 

Major Cambodia Festivals & Events Calendar:

Important Festival	Date in 2014	Location	Celebrate Activities
Khmer New Year	April 13-15	Nationwide	Make offerings, pour water and talcum powder, dance and games
Visak Bochea Day	May 13	Nationwide	Candle or torchlight procession, make offerings, listen to preaching
Royal Ploughing Ceremony	May 17	Phnom Penh	Oxen plowing
Pchum Ben Festival	September 22-24	Nationwide	Monks chanting, make offerings
Water Festival	November 5-7	Tonle Sap Lake & Siem Reap River	Boat races,  live concerts, food stands, fair riders and fireworks

Major Cambodia Festivals Highlights:

Khmer New Year (Chaul Chnam Khmer)

Date: April 13-15, 2014

Khmer New Year, or Chaul Chnam Khmer, is a significant Cambodia festival to celebrate the New Year. This three-day celebration begins on New Year's Day (usually on April 13 or 14), which is the end of the harvesting season, when farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor before the rainy season comes. In 2014, Khmer New Year will be held in April 13 – 15.

During the festival, Cambodians make offerings at temples, clean out their homes and exchange gifts. It’s a lively time to visit Cambodia as the Khmers go wild to pour water and talcum powder on elder relative, usually leaving many bemused tourists looking like plasters. Large crowds get together at Wat Phnom in Phnom Penh (the capital city). Throngs of locals flock to Angkor, which absolutely lively and excited at many temples. People come out to the streets with friends and families, taking a break from routine and enjoying dancing and games.

Buddha Day (Visak Bochea Day)

Date: May 13, 2014

As the holiest Buddhist festival, Buddha Day in Cambodia, or Visak Bochea Day, held on the eighth day of the fourth moon of lunar calendar, will fall on May 13 in 2014, to celebrate the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha - Sedatha Goutama. It is best observed at Angkor Wat.

Activities are centered on temples in Visak Bochea Day. Early in the day people visit temples to make offerings to the monks and listen attentively to the preaching. A candle or torchlight procession is taken out at dusk, in which people carry flowers and glowing incense sticks to pray silent rest to Buddha. The main shrine is circulated three times.

Royal Ploughing Ceremony (Chat Preah Nengkal)

Date: May 17, 2014

Led by the royal family, Royal Ploughing Ceremony, or Chat Preah Nengkal in Khmer, is a ritual agricultural festival to mark the traditional beginning of the rice-growing season. In 2014, Royal Ploughing Ceremony will be held on May 17 near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

In Royal Ploughing Ceremony, two sacred oxen are hitched to a wooden plough and then plough a furrow in some ceremonial ground, while rice seed is sown by court Brahmins. Afterwards, the oxen are offered plates of food, including rice, corn, green beans, sesame, fresh-cut grass, water and rice whisky. By observing what the oxen choose, Cambodians believe they can predict a range of events including epidemics, floods, good or bad harvests, etc.

Festival of The Dead (Pchum Ben Festival)

Date: September 22-24, 2014

Pchum Ben Day, also called Festival of The Dead, is a kind of All Souls’ Day and one of the most important religious festivals in Cambodia, culminating in celebrations on the 15th day of the tenth month in lunar calendar. It usually lasts for several days when devote Buddhists are expected to visit seven temples. In 2014, this national festival falls on September 22 - 24. 

Pchum Ben Festival is used to pay respects to the dead through offerings at temples. Monks chant the suttas in Pali language overnight in prelude to the gates of hell opening, and then ghosts of the dead are presumed to be especially active, and thus food-offerings are made to benefit them. Offerings include paper money, flowers, candles and incense, as well as food and drink, all passed through the medium of the monks. 

Water Festival (Bon Om Tuk)

Date: November 5-7, 2014

Water Festival is a very popular festival held widely in many Asian countries, such as Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and Laos, as well as Yunnan of China. In Cambodia, Water Festival, also called as Bon Om Tuk, is to celebrate the epic victory of Jayavarman Ⅶ over the Chams, who occupied Angkor in 1177 and mark the remarkable natural phenomenon of the reversal of the current of Tonle Sap River. 

As one of the most important festival in Khmer, it is wonderful and enthusiastic time in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. Boat races are held in Tonle Sap Lake and Siem Reap River, with each boat colorfully decorated and holding 40 rowers. A large number of people take part in this carnival for the fun and frolics, which consist of live concerts, food stands, fair riders and fireworks. Foreign tourists and peasants from various places gather in the capital to celebrate festival. Therefore, be sure to book ahead for accommodation.