Songkran Festival

Month : April
Place : Thailand
Famous For : Traditional New Years Festival
Attractions : Water Fight, Music, Dancing, Visits to Temples

The Songkran festival is the traditional New Year's Day of Thailand. This festival is observed every year from 13 to 15 April. The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed. If these days fall on a weekend, the missed days off are taken on the weekdays immediately following. If they fall in the middle of the week, many Thai take off from the previous Friday until the following Monday.

Major Attractions

Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season. The traditional Thai New Year has been a national holiday in Thailand from quite a long time.The Songkran festival was brought to Thailand by the Burmese, who adapted it from the Indian Holi festival. The most prolific Songkran celebrations occur in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where it continues for six days and even longer. It has also become a party for foreigners and an additional reason for many to visit Thailand for immersion in another culture. It"s a 3 day water fight during which music is in every street and dancing goes on all night. On Songkran, Thailand locals visit their Wats (Temples) and Buddha statues are washed. People take it very seriously in Chiang Mai where statues are paraded around the streets for all to help in the cleansing. People also bring sand to the temples to make up for the dirt they take away from the temples the rest of the year.