Laos Official Holidays
1. January 1 New Year’s day
2. April 13-15 Lao New Year
3. May 1 International Labor day
4. December 2 National day
Traditional Festival
1. April 13-15 Lao New Year
2. May Full Moon Day Visakha bousa
3. May (end) Rocket festival
4. July Full Moon Day Asalha bousa
5. October (midd) Boat racing
6. November (mid) That Luang Festival

Festival and Annual Events
Many Lao festivals are joyful, colorful events that invite visitors participation.

Most festivals are connected with the Buddhist religion.
Laos' major festivals and events are listed below:

February

Wat Phou festival

The traditional festival of Wat Phou is celebrated annually during the full Moon of the third lunar month (February) and organized before the angkor’s ceremony. Thousand of tourists and the residents of Champassack celebrate the festival. The festival includes water buffalo fighting, cock fighting, elephant races and more and more traditional performances.

That Ing Hang and Heuan Hine festival

That Ing Hang festival (in Savannakhet), will always attract a number of tourists and Buddhist pilgrims each year, during the full moon in February the residents of Savannakhet and thousand of visitors from Vientiane will go to joy them. This festival starts before the Wat Phou festival. But Heuan Hine festival (in Savannakhet), cerebrated at the time of the full moon of March.

Chinese New Year

Lunar New Year, is the Chinese and Vietnamese communities New Year in Laos. Firecrackers explode throughout their holiday and month-watering cakes and sweetmeats are made especially for visitors.

April 13-15

Lao New Year

Boun Pimai (Lao New Year) is the traditional Lao New Year and is celebrated with special for three days holiday. All most every house set up party to celebrate their New Year at home and invite friends and relatives to participant. The small conical mounds of sand decorated with papers and streamers which appear in Wat compounds to ward the end of the festival serve to assist the builders’ requests to the gods for health and happiness.

May

Boun Bang Fai(rocket Festival)

The rocket festival, is held at the sixth month of the solar-lunar calendar, and best seen in Vientiane and provincial construct gigantic rockets to fire in to the sky to ensure plentiful rain during the forthcoming rice season. A large rocket of bamboo made by villages or government enterprises are highly decorated and carried to a large launching structure by several people while chanting, drumming, folk dances, ribald and high-spirited revelry before the rockets are ceremoniously launched.

October

Boun Ok Phansa (Buddhist Lent)

Boun khao Phansa takes three months, from full moon in July to full moon in October to marks monks during the rainy season and a period of fasting for the monks. The biggest event of the Ok Phansa festival, Boun Souang Heua is the boat race festival. Held the day after Ok Phansa. The boat race takes place on the Mekong River, long boats with a crew of fifty or more men or women team rowing wooden pirogues to the beat of drums in competition for the coveted trophy.
The easiest way for foreigners to enjoy the spectacle is for them to go to the river bank which is the scene of a fair for about three kilometres north from Land Xang Hotels to Sunset bar.

November

That Luang Festival

Boun That Luang is a three day biggest religious festival celebrated at full moon in November, this is a Buddhist festival to honor all that’s. In the evening a large fireworks display is held within the walls.