October 03, 2020

Light it up!

Fire Boat Festival in Laos
Fire boats for sale in Vientiane during the Fire Boat Festival.
Photo by:  ZMCalucin Photography
During the end of Buddhist Lent, one of the festivities is the Fire Boat Festival ບຸນເຮືອໄຟ .  It's an event where revelers buy or create their own banana leaf and flower boats and then light them up and release them into the river.  Come night fall, the beauty of this festival is a feast for the eyes.

The act is symbolic of several things including letting go of past grievances while making a positive wish for the future, and paying reverence to the spirits.

Fire Boat Festival in Laos
People releasing their fire boats into the Mekong River in Vientiane during the Fire Boat Festival.
Photo by:  ZMCalucin Photography

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