Holidays & Festivals
Public Holidays and Festivals 2012
Here you'll find the 2012 dates of official public holidays, religious ceremonies and other festivals in Cambodia. Holidays falling on a Saturday or a Sunday are taken on the following Monday.
Plus some links to online picture albums of Cambodian festivals and more in-depth information on the celebrations mentioned, like the Water Festival and Khmer New Year.
Water Festival in Phnom Penh
The annual three-day Water Festival competes with the Khmer New Year for being the most important holiday for Cambodians.
The boat races on the Tonle Sap and the carnival atmosphere ashore attract millons of people from all over the country.
A smaller Water Festival is held around Angkor Wat, but for the real thing you'll have to go to Phnom Penh.
In Khmer the annual Water Festival is called Bonn Om Toeuk. The Water and Moon Festival ushers in the fishing season.
It also marks the reversal of the current in Tonle Sap river. Boat races as well as fireworks displays are held at the river.
Date in 2012: November 27, 28, 29 (in 2011, the Water Festival was cancelled).
This article was written before the tragic events on the last day of the festival in 2010.
Pchum Ben: honouring the ancestors.
Bonn Pchum Ben is the festival held for commemoration of the spirits of the dead. The highlight is on the 15th day of the waxing moon during the tenth month of the Khmer calendar, called Pheaktrobotr.
The festival does not just begin and end on one day. In fact, it lasts 15 days, each of which is called a day of Kan Ben. A Ben is an offering. The word of Ben is derived from Sanskrit pinda, or balls of rice to be offered to the souls of the dead.During the first 14 days, people take turns offering food to the monks of their local pagoda in the hope that their offering will reach the souls of their ancestors by virtue of the monks’ sermons.
Khmer New Year Celebrations
The Khmer New Year is one of the most important holidays in Cambodia. Also celebrated in Thailand and other Buddhist countries, these days are filled with water throwing at passers-by and other games. Many people confuse this with the Water Festival, but then there is no water throwing.
For the best atmosphere in Phnom Penh, go to the area around Wat Phnom. There are free concerts at night.
Khmer New Year is celebrated for three days.
Dates in 2012: 13-14-15 April
