Seems like there is a festival every month in Laos. Boun Dang Fai aka Rocket Festival is usually celebrated in May. This festival is celebrated on the village level so there are different dates. I went with my student Thongmuan to a village she farms in to celebrate. This festival is important because it welcomes the rainy season. The locals believe that they have to celebrate this so there will be a lot of rain for their crops.
We pretty much parade through the town and went house to house to eat and drink beer and dance. Then in the afternoon, we observed the rocket competition. There were 10 groups that competed. If a groups' rocket failed to launch, they were dumped in the mud. The rockets were made out of bamboo and powder and fire is used to light the rocket.
We pretty much parade through the town and went house to house to eat and drink beer and dance. Then in the afternoon, we observed the rocket competition. There were 10 groups that competed. If a groups' rocket failed to launch, they were dumped in the mud. The rockets were made out of bamboo and powder and fire is used to light the rocket.
The rockets were cool but my favorite part was watching the elders dance. They drank a lot of beer but the joy on their faces was contangious. Everyone had a really good time.