Festivals

Several festivals, based on the lunar calendar, are held annually and are of interest to both international and domestic tourists. The major festivals include:

Chaul Chhnam (April) This is the traditional New Year’s festival when Khmers clean and decorate their houses, make offerings and play traditional games.

Chrat Preah Nongkal (May) The Royal Ploughing Ceremony inaugurates the planting season and involves symbolic ploughing and sowing of seeds.

Visakha Puja (May-June) This religious hoiday celebrates Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing to nirvana.

Dak Ben (September) This ritual commemorates the spirits of the dead.

Kathen (October) This 29-day religious festival is marked by people marching in procession to the temples, where the monks change from their old to new robes.

Independence Day (9 November) This holiday celebrates the date when Cambodia achieved independence from France in 1953.

Om Took (November) The water festival ushers in the fishing season and marks the reversing of the current in the Tonle Sap River. This popular celebration attracts people who watch longboat races on the Tonle Sap in Phnom Penh, fireworks and a lighted boat flotilla.