Thursday 20 May 2027

The Vixakha Bouxa festival (also written Visakha Bouça) commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha, which are all said to have happened on the same date. It is held around the month of May or Vesak, based on the lunar calendar (celebration on the 15th day of the waxing moon of the 6th month).

One part of the Vixakha Bouxa festival is called Boun Bang Fay, or Rocket Festival. As this is during the hottest and driest season of the year, large homemade rockets are launched into the sky in an attempt to convince the celestial beings to send down rain. This rockets are made with 6 to 24kg of gunpowder, and can reach several hundred meters. Villages and villagers are competiting each other, the chief head of the village "responsible" for the defeat in case of the rocket doesn’t work well...

The days of the full moon is called Van Sin Ngiae 15 kham, holiday especially for all manual workers and those whose job can disturb by noise. These days we will avoid visiting artisan villages if we want to observe or participate in traditional activities.

On that day, more locals will join the Morning Alms.
Before participating, we recommend to read the Rules to respect for this unique cultural/religious tradition.

In the morning of the Van Sin Ngiae, the search for bonzes is marked by an influx more massive than usual of faithful. The bonzes themselves are more likely to leave the temple which gives the ritual a special intensity, even more in recent years with the influx of Thai visitors at certain times of the year for some Buddhist festivals.