Phi Ta Khon and Bun Luang Festival 2016
July 6 - 8, 2016
 Venue: Dan Sai district, Loei One of the most vibrant, and distinctly unique festival in Thailand’s Northeastern Region is the Phi Ta Khon (also known as ‘Ghost Festival’) and Bun Luang festival (or Boon Prawet) in Dan Sai district, Loei. The rituals normally take place every year during the first week after the 6th full moon of the year. This year, the three-day event is scheduled on 6-8 July, 2016. The whole event is actually called Bun Luang, a mass merit-making ceremony organised with the aim to celebrate the return of the Prince Vessandorn (the last life before he became Lord Buddha) and to worship Phra That Si Song Rak, the highly-revered Buddha stupa for both Thai and Lao people. But the highlight is the Phi Ta Khon masked-dance procession. Villagers, mostly male, dress in ghost costumes and wear huge masks made from carved coconut-tree trunks, topped with wicker work and sticky-rice steamers, would dance and strike amusing poses to the cheerful crowds as they parade around town. The masked-dance procession takes place in the morning and lasts a few hours. The activities during the event also include Phi Ta Khon costume competition, the firing of Bun Bung Fai rockets to ask for rain during the crop season, the reciting of thirteen sermons of Prince Vessandorn by local monks mainly at Wat Ponchai and other Buddhist temples around town. Contact Details: TAT Loei Office Tel. +66 (0) 4281 2812 Email: tatloei@tat.or.th For more information: http://www.tatnews.org/events/phi-ta-khon-and-bun-luang-festival-2016 |
