Water festival in Cambodia

In Cambodia, the Water Festival takes place in the month of October or November each year. This is celebrated at the time of the full moon. The water festival in Cambodia is the most extravagant and energized festival in the Khmer calendar. This one starts on the day of the full moon. You can enjoy this in late October or in early November. At this time nearly one million people from different corners of the world gather together to the banks of the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers. They flock in the Phnom Penh in an order to watch traditional boats racing on a huge scale. More than 400 brightly colored boats with over 2,500 paddlers battled it out for top honors in this year. In ancient time during the Khmer empire also the boat racing was very popular and it marked the strength of the powerful Khmer marine forces.

You can enjoy the boats race in pairs during the day. The race organized along a kilometer-long course. In the evening brightly decorated floats cruise can be seen along the river. In nighttime fireworks displays are organized. Altogether you can enjoy a festive mood.

The festival denotes the flow changing of the Tonle Sap River. This water festival is also organized for thanksgiving to the Mekong River. The river provides the country with abundant fish and fertile land and this is the reason why the people organize this thanksgiving ceremony. At this time the river flow returns to its normal down-stream direction. It can be mentioned that the Tonle Sap River earlier reverses its course with the progression of the rainy season. The river then flows ‘upstream’ to Tonle Sap Lake. With the end of rainy season, the river changes direction. At that time the swollen Tonle Sap Lake starts to empty back into the Mekong River. The result is vast quantities of fish that it leaves behind.