In many Southeast Asian countries they will be celebrating their new year with The Water Festival. This three day festival takes place from April 13-15. Itâ??s a day where participants try to get each other soaking wet. Traditionally, people just sprinkled water on each other, but participants have become quite enthusiastic about it over the years. Perhaps itâ??s because itâ??s rather hot during this time of year or maybe itâ??s just because itâ??s fun to douse someone with water. Whatever the reason, The Water Festival is fun for participants and spectators alike.

What It Is

The first two days of the festival generally take place on Lancang Riverâ??s banks. The first day is marked with a lot of celebrations. There is a market set up where locals and tourists can do a little bit of shopping for souvenirs or food items. Thereâ??s also a dragon boat race that takes place down the Lancang River. During the evening many people put colorful lanterns in the water. These lanterns signify sending bad luck away so that good luck can arrive. The last day of the festival is the day that the majority of the water splashing, throwing and squirting happens. It begins with monks at a local Buddhist temple chanting scriptures. Afterwards a statue of Buddha is splashed with water in what is referred to as â??Bathing the Buddhaâ?. Getting wet with water symbolically represents cleansing and a new beginning.

The Main Purpose

Even though splashing each other with water is a great way to cool off, the festival is rather religious in nature. Getting another person wet is seen as religious purity and wishing another individual good luck and a prosperous new year. In the past The Water Festival coincided with the lunar calendar. However, now it tends to be held on the same three days every single year. This celebration has become quite popular over the years and Bangkok tends to have the most number of people participating in the celebration. In many cities it ends up being a rather large street party. Throughout the festival individuals will offer up prayers, visit monasteries, cleanse their house by cleaning it top to bottom and even have family reunions with relatives that they havenâ??t seen in a while. Even those that donâ??t plan to participate are often roped into all the activities as they usually end up having water thrown at them, all in good fun of course.