January
1 - national holiday
January
6 - Pathet Lao Day; national holiday with parades in the capital,
Vientiane
January
20 - Day of the Army; national holiday
January
or February - Chinese and Vietnamese New Year; it is celebrated
principally by the Chinese and Vietnamese minorities, but cause
for many shops to be closed. The celebration is flexible in date
as it is determined by the lunar calendar.
January
- Boun Pha Vet; commemoration of the incarnation of King Vessanthara
as Buddha; flexible in date as it is determined by the lunar calendar.
February
- Magha Puja; Buddhist holiday, flexible in date as it is determined
by the lunar calendar.
March
8 - Women's Day; national holiday with parades.
March
22 - Day of the People's Party; national holiday
March
- Boun Khoun Khao; thanksgiving celebration, flexible in date
as it is determined by the lunar calendar.
April
- Boun Pimai; traditional Laotian New Year, equalling Songkran
in Thailand; the celebrations last for three days during which
citizens douse each other liberally with water; exact date determined
by the lunar calendar.
May 1-
Labour Day; national holiday with parades in Vientiane.
May -
Boun Bang Fai; equal to the rocket festival in Northeast Thailand;
bamboo rockets are fired at the sky; it is believed this will
bring about much-needed rain; exact date determined by the lunar
calendar.
June 1
- Children's Day; national holiday
June or
July - Khao Pansa; beginning of the Buddhist Lent; the exact
date depends on the lunar calendar. The day is preferred by Laotians
and Buddhist men of neighbouring countries for becoming monks,
mostly on a temporary basis.
August
13 - Lao Issara, Day of the Free Laos; national holiday
August
- Ho Khao Padap Dinh; a kind of Laotian All-Saints-Day in commemoration
of the dead and ancestors; ; exact date determined by the lunar
calendar.
September
- Bouk ok Pansa; the date of the final celebrations of the Buddhist
Lent; exact date determined by the lunar calendar.
October
12 - Day of Liberation from the French; national holiday
December
2 - Independence Day; national holiday with military parades
December
- New-Year celebration of the Hmong, a strong ethnic minority
in Laos; ; exact date determined by the lunar calendar.
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