BOUN KHOUN KHAO

The annual harvest festival, also known as the Rice Festival, is celebrated throughout the country during the month of March. Villagers pay homage to the spirits of the land that brought in the crops. During the ceremony, people sit around a beautiful giant bouquet of flowers called Pha Khouan. After the rituals and ceremonies, traditional dances and songs are performed. It is in the vicinity of Vientiane, on the banks of the Mekong River, that the festivities are the most intense.