Generally lasting for three days from 14-16 April during which time Cambodians douse each other liberally with water, clean and decorate their houses, and make offerings at the local temple.

City streets are decorated and brightly lit in the evenings. There are cultural shows, entertainment, and competitive games.

October

Pchum Ben or Soul Day - Running for 15 days from the end of September into October, and the exact date determined by the lunar calendar, this festival is dedicated to blessing the spirits of the dead, and is one of the most culturally significant in Cambodia. Each household visits their Buddhist temple and offers food to the monks for their assistance in blessing the souls of late ancestors, relatives and friends. Pagodas are crowded with people taking their turn to make offerings, with many staying behind to listen to Buddhist sermons.

Bonn Kathen - A religious festival when monks come out of retreat, and people all over the country form reverent slow processions to their local temple. Monks change their old saffron robes for the new ones offered by the devotees, an action that brings spiritual merit to all participants. Date decided by lunar calendar.

Paris Peace Agreement - October 23rd
Birthday of His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk - Held over three days from October 30th, people converge from all corners of Cambodia to enjoy the shows, parades, festivals, and a giant firework display in Phnom Penh.

November

Independence Day - A national holiday on November 9th to celebrate the independence of Cambodia from France in 1953. A gala parade is held in front of the Royal Palace, which includes floats, marching bands and other entertaining festive activities.

The Bonn Om Took Water Festival (7-9 November) - Celebrating the reversed current of the Tonle Sap River that connects the Tonle Sap Lake with the Mekong. For most of the year the river flows out from the lake into the Mekong. However, during the rainy season from about June to October the Mekong rises, causing the Tonle Sap River to flow in reverse, and the lake to swell to more than twice its regular size. At the end of the rainy season, when the water level of the Mekong drops again, the current reverts and flows back into the Mekong. This event is celebrated with three days of boat races, fairs, festivals, shows, parades, fireworks, music and dancing.

December

International Half marathon - Held at the world renowned Angkor Wat an event which attracts competitors from all over the world. With thousands of spectators and the wonder of Angkor Wat, it is a spectacular setting.

The Royal Ploughing ceremony, or Pithi Chrat Preah Neanng Korl in Khmer, and the Festival of Water and full Moon Salutation, know as Pithi Bonn Om Touk and Ak Ambok Sampeah preah Kher in Khmer, are such ceremonies. Predictions gleaned from these traditional ceremonies for the coming year are taken very seriously.

The Festival of Water and Full Moon Salutation is celebrated usually in late October. Drippings from burning candles predict rainfall distribution to provinces across the country. The Royal Ploughing Ceremony predicts the weather, epidemics and farming conditions. By observing what feed the royal oxen choose after the Royal Ploughing Ceremony, Cambodians believe they can predict a range of events including epidemics, floods, good harvests and excessive rainfall.

This year, the Royal Ploughing Ceremony was held on May 11 at the Veal Preahmein Square, situated across the road from the northern perimeter of the Royal Palace.

At the end of a symbolic Ploughing procession before His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk, the royal oxen were relieved of their harnesses and led to seven golden trays containing rice, corn, sesame seeds, beans, grass, water and wine to feed. The royal oxen chose to eat out of only three trays this year and because their feast consisted of varying percentages of rice and corn while they largely ignored the trays of sesame seeds, grass, water and wine, prognostications were as follows: Farmers would enjoy a moderate output for their rice harvest but good yields in secondary crop production, especially corn and beans. Because the royal oxen only sniffed on the tray of water and turned away from the wine, the prediction was made that farmers would not suffer any serious floods.

Friends International, a development group that helps street children build life skills, celebrated its 15th anniversary Friday, with an exhibition of children’s art and a cocktail party at its newest restaurant.

The group has helped thousands of children “who face daily violence and experience a high level of drug use to reintegrate into their families, public school, vocational training and then employment,” Map Somaya, its program director, told VOA Khmer.

The art exhibition shows works from children created during the lifetime of the organization at Romdeng restaurant, which belongs to the organization and is used to help train children in restaurant work, from designing menus to preparing and serving food.

Friends, which also goes by the Khmer name Mith Samlanh, has a team of 250 staff that help around 19,000 children per year, including primary classes for 750 children and 11 vocational courses for about 850. It also provides temporary accommodation for many.

“Our Cambodian and foreign customers love to order the famous fish amok, curry saramann and beef stir-fried with red ants,” said Sophon, a student chef at Romdeng.

Artwork on display includes work like “Flowers in the Garden,” by a nine-year-old named Vatey, who said she likes nature and escaping outside when she feels angry. Seeing flowers and trees make her calmer, she said.

(source: VOA Khmer)

The festival will showcase various kinds of flowers grown in the central highlands city of Dalat with a special emphasis on wild orchids.

There will also be a series of events in a tribute to Vietnamese embroidered art and the artisans in this field.

The organisers plan to set up a hall to exhibit 12 special works which are embroidered with a flower design on both sides, as well as other embroideries using deep-blue and yellow colours.

On October 1, an embroidery work titled “Desire of the 1,000-year-old Thang Long” will be presented to Hanoi during the grand ceremony that will mark the capital city’s 1,000th birthday.

Nine embroiderers are still working on the gift, which is expected to weigh almost 167.5kg and will be 4m long and 3m wide when it is completed in September this year.