Celebration time, come on!

Thailand and her neighbours welcomed 2016 as full members of the Asean Economic Community, opening the doors to tourists from all over the globe to make friends with some 600 million people in 10 countries and understand more about their cultures.

Of course, the best way of learning about those cultures is to travel around the region and experience how each country celebrates its religious and traditional festivals.

We look at what the region has in store for 2016. Check them out and book your tickets now.

 

ATI-ATIHAN, The Philippines

Jan 17 to 26

Colourful costumes, tribal dancing and feasting headline this famous festival in Kalibo, the capital of the Philippine province of Aklan, honouring Santo Nino or the infant Jesus. Originally a pagan festival until Spanish missionaries added a Christian meaning, it’s best described as a tribal version of the Brazil carnival, with black-painted faces, feather headdresses and animal bones creating an arresting visual impression. Drumming and dancing break out at dawn and continue on until the festival ends at a masquerade ball. A mass outdoor procession follows a sacred image of Santo Nino from the Kalibo Cathedral to Pastrana Park.

Kalibo International Airport is the main transportation hub for the resort island of Boracay.

 

BALI ART FESTIVAL, Indonesia

June 13 to July 11

Bali is known for its unique art and culture, and the Bali Art Festival offers a full month of performances, handicraft exhibitions and cultural activities. The festival begins with a Grand Parade on opening day, starting from the Bajra Sandhi Puputan field in Renon and ending at the Denpasar Art Centre. Each regency is represented with a gamelan orchestra and people dressed in their regional costumes. Often tall, towering offerings are carried on the heads of colourfully dressed women, once again showing the diversity Bali has to offer. There are performances of both traditional and contemporary dance and music nightly while the daylight hours are devoted to handicraft and food stalls showcasing the best of each regency, with delights for everyone of every age.

 

BALIEM VALLEY FESTIVAL, Indonesia 

August 11 to 15

A fabulous opportunity to explore remote Papua island, the Baliem valley is nearer to the Stone Age than the digital age. Home to the Yali, Dani and Lani tribes, the Baliem Valley Festival features mock battles between the tribes, pig races, spear throwing, cooking contests and tribal music and dance presentations. 

There are regular flights from Jakarta, Makassar and Bali to Jayapura, capital of the province of Irian Jaya/Papua. From there you can take a connecting flight to Wamena.

 

VAT PHOU FESTIVAL, Laos

February 18 to 22

Vat Phou, the Unesco World Heritage sites in Champassak, was a Hindu temple before the arrival of Buddhism. Built during the first part of the 11th century, it is located at the base of mount Phu Kao and the front section, made of sandstone, is occupied by four Buddha images. If you plan to visit Vat Phou, make it next month when the Lao celebrate the Vat Phou Festival. This annual rite is held on the full moon of the third month of lunar calendar and features elephant racing, buffalo fighting, cock fighting and performances of Lao traditional music and dance. 

 

SONGKRAN FESTIVAL, Thailand

April 13 to 20

Warm, wet and wild is the best way to describe Thailand’s Songkran Festival. Celebrated for a week across the country, it is also known as the water festival, as the throwing of water is the festival’s highlight. Aimed at anything moves, water in plastic bags, in buckets or from a huge water gun ensure that everyone enjoys a good soaking. The best places to celebrate include Khao San Road in Bangkok. Tha Pae Gate in Chiang Mai, Phra Pradaeng in Samut Prakan Province and Pattaya. 

 

TET NGUYEN DAN, Vietnam

February 8

Tet Nguyen Dan – the Vietnamese New Year – is the most festive day in Vietnam’s calendar and marks the arrival of spring. Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam’s South is the place to rub shoulders with the Vietnamese before Tet when the markets are packed with people stocking up on goods. This is a busy period in the family home as the women cook the many special holiday delicacies. Take a stroll down the city’s Nguyen Hue, which is transformed into a floral wonderland in the week before Tet.

 

HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL, Singapore

August 28

The Hungry Ghost Festival is to Chinese-speaking folks is what Halloween is to the Americans. The souls of the dead, according to Chinese beliefs, will roam the Earth sometime in August and the living ignore the dead at their peril. To appease the hungry ghost, the folks in Singapore organise a feast and entertainment for the dead after dark. You don’t have to leave your living form to join the festival. Check it out for Chinese operas, stand-up comedy, and dance.

 

THAIPUSAM, Malaysia 

January 23

A Hindu festival celebrated in Kuala Lumpur on the first full moon night of 2016, Thaipusam honours Lord Subramaniam, who represents virtue, youth and power, and is the destroyer of evil. It’s the most spectacular Hindu festival in Malaysia and features Hindus piercing their bodies with metal skewers and carrying pots of milk on their heads along a four-kilometre procession to the Batu Caves.

 

HPAUNG DAW U PAGODA FESTIVAL, Myanmar

September – October

The Hpaung Daw U Pagoda Festival is one of the largest Buddhist festivals in Myamnar. Held over 18 days at Inle Lake in Shan State, the festival sees four of the pagoda’s Buddha images placed on a replica of a royal barge designed as a hintha bird and taken throughout the lake. Thousands of people from communities around the lake and the surrounding mountains show up with fruits and flowers on lacquer trays in their own boats before heading to the holy pagoda. 

 

HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI, Brunei

Hari Raya Aidilfitri, or Eid al-Fitr, is the festival of breaking fast. It’s celebrated in Brunei as well as other Muslim communities in Asean at the end of Ramadan – the month of Holy Fasting. A home-coming event where everyone feasts together and seeks forgiveness from elder members, it’s particularly special in Brunei because Istana Nurul Iman, the official residence of the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, is open to the public. Buffet meals and a palace tour are available for visitors.

 

KHMER NEW YEAR, Cambodia

April 14 to 16

Millions of Cambodia mark Bonn Om Toeuk along the Tonle Sap in Phnom Penh, Spectators, revellers and oarsmen gather for spectacular dragon boat racing. The race, with more than 400 boats from around Cambodia, marks the New Year as well as a unique natural phenomenon – when the Tonle Sap River reverses the flow of its current. Firework displays and cultural shows add to the colour.