Last week, Cambodia celebrated Water Festival for the first time in four years. Water Festival is normally an annual event, but the festival hasn't been held since 2010 when over 350 died in a stampede on a bridge. Since then, Water Festival has been cancelled for various official reasons, some legitimate, others questionable. However, since the announcement that the festival would go on this year, the city has been abuzz, both in excited anticipation of the celebrations and in trepidation of a possible repeat of tragedy.
On the first night of the festival, Jeremy and I went to check things out. Although Water Festival is centered on the waterfront, every public plaza we passed along the way was packed with people, lined with vendors selling food and goods, and filled with stages for entertainers. Normally it takes us 30 minutes to walk to the waterfront, but this time it took an hour to make it through the crowded streets.
Arriving at the waterfront, we were greeted with one of the primary attractions of Water Festival: the illuminated boats! Those of you familiar with my love of Christmas lights can imagine my excitement at seeing these colorful displays on the water! Each boat was also playing traditional music. Lights AND music - I was in heaven!
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| My favorite boat: Ministry of Commerce's map of Cambodia |
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| The boats made such a pretty sight lighting up the dark river. |
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| I also love that the Royal Palace was lit up for the festival. |
The next day, I went to see the other principal feature of Water Festival: the boat races. Teams around the country have been competing for months to qualify for participation. I was not prepared for how long these boats would be! Each boat had at least 75 rowers in it, and sometimes I could see a boat bouncing in the water as the rowers moved in unison to propel it forward. The races seemed continual, without any fanfare as each race ended and the next one began. But spectators were clearly cheering on specific teams and having a good time.
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| Long boat race |
Although only three hours out of the three-day festival was enough for me, the excitement was palpable in the air and I definitely caught some of it. I'm so glad that I had the chance to participate in this unique Cambodian experience.
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