Your visit to Cambodia would be more interesting if you have chance to visit the country in its holidays and festivals. There are many holidays in Cambodia in a year. In this article, you will find out information about important occasions of Cambodian.
Although there is a little increase in presense of Western culture, Cambodian still celebrate their holidays in a traditional way.
1. Khmer New Year (Chaul Chnam Thmey)
The Khmer New Year is one of the most important holidays in Cambodia. Unlike the other holidays, the New Year follows the Gregorian calendar and often takes place from April 13 to 15. On the first days, Cambodian cleans their houses, gives local monks food for blessings and plays traditional games. The last day of the holiday is similar to the celebration in neighbor countries: Laos and Thailand. On this day, both young and old people splash water upon each other.
Khmer New Year- source: internet
2. Labour day
Cambodia has the same Labour Day as many other parts of the world to celebrate social and economic achievement. On the first day of May, you can see thousands of Cambodian labours hitting the streets of Phnom Penh. On the streets, there are many different activities for you to join in.
3. King Norodom Sihamoni’s Birthday
The King’s birthday is national holidays throughout Cambodia. To celebrate his birthday, the King makes offerings to the monks and to the poor. During 3 days of the holidays, the streets are full of people dancing with banners congratulating the King’s birthday.
King Norodom Sihamoni on his birthday- source: internet
4. Ancestors’ Day (Pchum Ben)
This is a big Khmer holiday which is celebrated on the 15th day of the 10th month in the Khmer lunar calendar. Pchum Ben is also called the Khmer Festival of the Dead. During this holiday, Khmers would visit at least 7 pogodas in 15 days to make offerings to the dead ancestors. Besides, they also throw rice-sesame seeds on the grounds of temples. They believe that they can give food to the roaming sprits of ancestors. On this holiday, the descendants of those who were killed by the Khmer Rouge will pray at pogodas.
5. National Independence Day
Cambodian has their national holiday on every 9th November to celebrate their independence from France since 1953. The celebrations are taken place around the Independence Monument including cultural activities, fireworks in the evening and parades.
6. Royal Ploughing Ceremony
This ceremony is quite familiar in many Asian countries. It marks the beginning of the rice growing season. In Cambodia, it is held in May 12. The ceremony is started by two sarced oxen ploughing a furrow in some ground. After that, they will be given different plates of food including corn, sesame, rice, grass,… Then the court astrologers will make a prediction depending on what the oxen eat.
The royal oxen- source: internet
7. Victory over Genocide Day
The national holiday marks the day in 1979 that Vietnamese troops helped Cambodia to end the Khmer Rouge regime. During the four years of Khmer Rouge regime, there were nearly 2 million Cambodian people killed. This holiday is celebrated by politician’s speeches and some cultural displays in Phnom Penh.
Apart from above holidays, there are some other short holidays for Cambodian like International Women’s Day on 8th March, International Children’s Day on 1st June and Constitution Day on 24th September.
Explore more topics: Best places to visit in Cambodia; Places to visit in Siem Reap; Places to visit in Phom Penh; Best Places for shoping in Siem Reap; Tourist attractions in Battambang; Tourist attractions in Kratie; Famous food in Cambodia
