Have you ever seen a city filled with streets of adults and children alike, holding onto water pistols as they hose each other down in a friendly fight? Well, there’s no better place to see this than Luang Prabang, Laos. Mid April in Laos is the hottest times of the year; however, it is also the month when the country comes alive as Pi Mai, the Lao New Year, comes around.
You may have heard of this festival under different names, such as Songkran as it is widely celebrated in South East Asia and some nearby regions. Personally having celebrated it in Luang Prabang, I think this is the perfect place for a balance between party, getting a glimpse into century-long traditions and getting to meet some locals. But, no matter where you decide to celebrate, you should definitely add this festival to your travel bucket list.
In Luang Prabang, locals and tourists alike gather in the streets for beers from the late morning before arming themselves for some cheeky water fights. The streets are in blissful chaos, and it’s almost impossible to walk 2 metres down the busy streets without getting soaked. Many locals have pick-up trucks which they fill with buckets of water and drive down the streets with, splashing every passerby in sight. Water guns are sold everywhere during this time, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on any of the fun!
In addition to the splashy fun, there are parades and traditional ceremonies for an entire week and more during the new years celebrations, giving you an insight into the history of this festival along with all the partying.
Laos New Year Dates
Pi Mai water fights lasts for 3 days, usually from the 13th-15th or the 14th-16th of April. However, you’d sometimes see eager young children starting a day early in the watery festivities. In Luang Prabang, while water fights are more or less 3 days like the rest of the country, celebrations last for about 10 days as there are more parades and traditional ceremonies taking place during this time.
For 2020, Pi Mai will officially be from the 13th to 15th of April. However the festival has been cancelled because of COVID-19. You can also take a look at Tourism Laos for updates on when Pi Mai will take place in the upcoming years. There you can also find information on other festivals that happen throughout the year!
Cultural significance of Pi Mai
As much as it is a festival of fun, there is a deeper meaning to this Laotian new year; spraying each other with water is actually an act of purification and cleansing in preparation for the coming of the new year. To see a more traditional and calm cleansing process among the chaotic festivities, in select towns including Luang Prabang you can see the watering of Buddha images. The Buddha images are removed from the temples and rinsed with scented water before it is placed in it’s original place again.
In Laos, as part of the festivities, there is a beauty pageant where a lucky girl is selected as ‘Nang Sangkhan’ which can be translated to Miss New Year in English. This beauty pageant actually has ties to Brahmanism, an ancient religion in Laos before the introduction of Buddhism.
In accordance to Brahminist myth, Nang Sangkhan needs to lead a procession at the base of Mount Sumeru, to pay respects to the divine King Kabinlaphom which then prevents occurrence of natural disasters. This procession is represented as parades in Luang Prabang, which is relatively calm, though you would see many locals respectfully sprinkling water onto members of the procession.
If you’re into the calm, traditional side of this festival, that is great! Learning about the culture and history of a country will truly enrich your travel experience. As much as the festival honours Laotian traditions, it seems splashing around has become as important part of it. Getting drenched does not sound as dreadful as it may to some; remember that it can get up to 40°C some days, a bit of water can be quite refreshing.
Preparing for Pi Mai
Whether or not you take my advice to get fired up and go on a H2O shooting spree, or if you just want to avoid getting splashed and explore the city, here are some things you should think about before you exit your accomodation during the festival.
- If you bring your camera/phone/money out with you- put them in waterproof (NOT water resistant) bags or many layers of plastic bags.
You will get more soaked than you think you will (even if you try to avoid them), and unless you like broken technology or unrecognisable clumps of paper that used to be money, this will save you a lot of potential headaches.
- Keep all your important things in a safe place where you can’t be pickpocketed. Ideally, only bring what you need and leave the rest in your hostel/hotel’s locker.
This is me speaking from experience. I thought I would be aware of anybody coming close to me throughout the water fights but I was distracted in a short 5 minute show and somebody took all the money I had from my pocket.
- Wear an old t-shirt as not only plain water is used. Food colouring is sometimes added to the water, and talcum powder is often used for smearing onto passerbys.
- For anybody worried about hygiene, water used in Luang Prabang is clean tap water. At least this was the case when I was in Luang Prabang in 2019. I doubt dirty water would be used at all but cannot guarantee it.
Specifically for those hoping to avoid getting involved in the water fights, do note that politely or not-so-politely asking people not to shoot at you does NOT work. Even if you have your backpack/ luggage and are screaming that you have your new expensive laptop in there- you will get splashed by drunk tourists or young local kids that have no idea why you’re so frantic.
I watched many of these defenceless tourists in pity as they walked past my gang’s “territory”, and got bucketfuls of water chucked at them. Even if you have an umbrella or raincoat on, your efforts are futile and some overzealous water fighter will come chasing after you.
If you think you can escape by taking a tuk-tuk or scooter, you are very wrong my friend. You may as well paint a target on yourself; what better prize than drenching a large moving object? There are also often quite a lot of traffic jams with the celebrations, and the vehicles will come into a standstill, making you an even easier, juicier target.
I hope I haven’t terrified you. There is a very simple solution to avoid this:
- Take a taxi. Windows completely closed of course.
But do wrap your bag and important items in something waterproof just in case when you get off, you get a little bit of water chucked your way.
- If you don’t want to take a taxi and still want to walk on the streets, to reduce the amount of soaking you get just try not to show your reluctance towards the splashing. It seems to be in human nature to make the unhappiest person as wet as possible and somehow force them to enjoy the fun they’re having.
- Generally there seems to be an unspoken rule that the water fights stop after sunset. In Luang Prabang specifically, most locals seem to go back home to either have a more quiet quality time with family/friends or catch up on sleep so they can keep partying the next day. The streets are still quite busy with tourists going around to have more drinks and while nobody would really try and spray you at this time, you sometimes get couple of enthusiastic drunk tourists who still go about with their splashing weapons.
I hope these tips are of use. If you get the opportunity to visit Luang Prabang during Pi Mai, you will get to see a very different side of Laos.
Pi Mai is the best time of year to connect with locals
Even if you can’t speak the language, you will connect with the people on a very personal level through kindred spirit of fun. Pi Mai is a time where the locals relax and let loose, it’s the perfect time to gather with old friends and perhaps meet a couple of new ones.
Many locals lounge out on the street in front of their houses/shops from late morning having a beer and there is 99.9% chance you will be invited to join. I certainly got myself many offers, and even if we couldn’t understand each other, the universal language of alcohol bridged the gap.
It does help to know how to say “happy new year” in Laos, which is “Bun pi mai!” On top of that, in the afternoon after everyone’s downed a couple of drinks, there tends to be a couple of impromptu dance parties happening on the main touristic streets. Both travellers and locals gather in these parties as everyone dances, drinks and shoot each other some more.
While alcohol is a great way to connect with people, don’t forget you still can without it. The water fights itself seems to bond everybody together with a sense of camaraderie as you fight alongside strangers you’ve just met. You can walk down the streets and refill your choice of weapon with anybody that is chilling in front of their house/shop with a hose.
Everybody is super friendly and will eagerly share their water source with you. You’re also more than welcomed to stay around the hose outside their house (or shop) for as long as you like and start a “war” with somebody on the opposite side of the street, or just anybody that passes you by. I suppose in this way, I made many new friends with travellers and locals.
My Pi Mai 2019 experience in Luang Prabang
If you’re lucky, you might get an invite to join some locals on their pick up truck which would circle around the city with their large water buckets. While walking around the streets with a couple of backpackers, we met some expats & locals who’d hired one and they invited us on.
The truck went down the main touristic streets and we got the pleasure of splashing everyone on the streets… until we ran out of water and somebody had to keep running down to the streets to refill with someone’s hose. Even if completely sober, we started jumping and dancing on the back of the pick-up every time we were stuck in traffic. If I were in Australia, we’d be pulled over by police in no time. But this is Laos and you only get one chance to party like this during new year.
Luang Prabang’s main city centre where travellers stay is not very big at all. Perhaps because of this, it’s very easy to bump into somebody you’ve met previously here. If you want to go somewhere hoping for a chance to connect with locals, this city might be a good place given its small town vibe.
After Pi Mai, I spent three weeks exploring other parts of the country before returning to Luang Prabang for a couple of days. To my amazement, a couple of locals who I never talked to remembered me. The shopkeeper whose large bucket of water I borrowed many times to refill ammunition with, the group of children across the street who I had a friendly little “war” with- we recognised each other and exchanged short but warm greetings.
Even if our verbal communication was quite limited, out of the hundreds of people we met those few days, we remembered the faces of those that made us feel so happy and care-free. After those little encounters, I did feel very nostalgic and almost as if I had returned home even if my time spent in Luang Prabang was very short.
Accomodation in Luang Prabang
*Note: The external links to accomodation below are connected to an affiliate program. It will not cost you extra to book accomodation via my link, but it will give me a small commission that will help me continue my travels in the future and run this website.
For those planning on celebrating the Laotian new year in this beautiful town, these are two places I stayed at in Luang Prabang. They’re both a short walk to the town centre and main attractions as well as being close to all the action happening during Pi Mai.
Hostel: Sunrise Riverside & Pool Hostel has a beautiful veranda area with riverside views and is the perfect place for making new friends. I highly recommend it for solo travellers.
Hotel: Chitlada Central Bila House is a great budget hotel good for couples or groups of friends. You have your own bathroom and it is quieter than Sunrise Riverside Hostel.
It’s hard to say what was the best thing I did in my travels. But in South East Asia, it is hands down Pi Mai. Whether or not you celebrate the Laotian new year in Luang Prabang, this UNESCO heritage town is worth visiting. However, I hope you do add Pi Mai to your travel bucket list!