|
Home > Volunteer Vacations - Teaching Abroad with a difference |
Volunteer Vacations |
|
THAI FESTIVALS in Nong Khai There are many national and local festivals and cultural events that take place throughout the year. The exact dates for many of these events cannot be given as they vary year to year, depending on the lunar calendar
JANUARY New Year's Day - To greet the arrival of the New Year many locals flock to Wat Pho Chai, the most important Buddhist site in the region, to make merit and receive blessings. Children’s Day - Usually held on the 2nd Saturday of the month, many businesses, schools, military institutions, and social organizations open their doors for children with many games and activities taking place.
Teacher Day, 16th January - Known as 'Wai Kru' students present flowers and gifts to their teachers as signs of respect and gratitude.
FEBRUARY Chinese New Year. Nong Khai has a large Chinese presence and you will be able to watch the lion dances and Chinese acrobats winding their way along the roads in the town centre. The sound of firecrackers exploding reverberates throughout the city and in the evening you can watch Chinese operas. Makha Bucha Day - A very important Buddhist holy day and national holiday when people make merit at the local temples. In the evening they head to major temples, especially Wat Po Chai, to take part in candlelight processions around the temple.
MARCH Prap Ho Monument Fair - Held at the beginning of March every year, the streets around the Prap Ho Monument are closed to traffic for a weeklong fair. Activities include shows, games, school dance contests, and there are many stalls selling food & local handicrafts.
APRIL Songkran Festival 13th-15th April - This is the traditional Thai New Year and an amazingly fun time! This is when all family members come home to spend time together. The streets of Nong Khai become a party zone with water fights and dancing taking place everywhere. Not to be missed!!
MAY Visakha Bucha - This is the most holiest of all Buddhist religious days and involves merit-making and candlelight processions around the temples. Again, Wat Po Chai is the main centre of activities. Bun Bang Fai Fair - This is a rocket contest to worship Phaya Thaen or the God of Rain and to ask for the rains to come. Local organizations make ornately decorated rockets, which are paraded through the streets of Nong Khai before ending up at Wat Pho Chai. A temple fair takes places before the rocket are moved to the launch ground about 10 km out of the city. The rockets are then launched, some often travelling many kilometers. Vacations to Teach runs transport to and from the launch site.
JULY Khao Pensa - This is the beginning of Buddhist Lent and a very auspicious time for young men to enter the monk hood. You will observe parades by very proud families taking their sons to join the temple.
OCTOBER Bang Fai Phaya Nak - Known in English as the Naga Fireballs, this extraordinary phenomenon of fireballs shooting out of the Mekong River takes place during the nights around the beginning of the full moon in the eleventh lunar month (the end of Buddhist Lent). They can be seen at various points along the Mekong River and Vacations to Teach will take you to one of the sites.
Long Boat Races - Held during the end of the Buddhist Lent festival every year the Mekong River comes alive with the chanting of the teams of boat racers going up and down the river. Food stalls and people line the banks and in the evening victory celebrations often go on long into the night. Vacations to Teach provides transport to and from some of the race locations.
NOVEMBER Loy Krathong - Held on the full moon of the 12th lunar month this festival involves thanking to the goddess of water by launching on the Mekong River a small raft made from banana leaves and containing lit candles and incense sticks. It is a beautiful sight watching the 'krathongs' floating down the river. On this night a beauty contest takes place in Wat Pho Chai on the riverside and the audience votes for their favorite by presenting the contestants with red roses.
|
|
Volunteer Vacations - Volunteer Teaching Abroad
Holidays in Thailand.
A part of Vacations To Teach - Volunteer community project.
powered by; Dawan Woods © 2006-2008
Vacations To Teach is fully registered with the Thai Government - Licence No. 043550000380