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Rocket Festival in Laos 2020

The rocket festival is held in the sixth Lunar month (May or June) and is a ceremony believed to bring the rains so that rice planting can begin.

Celebrations typically take two to three days and include music and dance performances, competitive processions of floats, dancers and musicians, and culminate on the third day in competitive firings of home-made rockets.

Large bamboo rockets are built and decorated by monks and villagers and carried in procession before being blasted skywards to let the God of rain, Phaya Thaen, know it is time to send the rains. The higher a rocket goes, the bigger the praise for its builder. Designers of failed rockets are thrown in the mud or a pond.

Many villages get together in an outlying area to fire these huge rockets into the sky, while those on the ground celebrate by drinking, singing and dancing. It is a big fun day out for all, although it can get a bit raucous and unruly at times.

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