Wild scenes of exuberance can be seen throughout the Kingdom with music, dancing, and people drenched from head to toe. Water guns, hose pipes, buckets, in fact, anything you can get your hands on can be used to splash people, and one thing is for certain: you will get wet! Although the focus of Songkran has shifted towards merriment and light-hearted activities, its celebrations are steeped in religious and spiritual rituals — many of which survive in different forms during the modern festivities.
For the most part, Thai locals spend a portion of Songkran visiting Buddhist monasteries to pray and offer food or other gifts to Buddhist monks. Finally, long known as a festival of unity , Songkran still places much emphasis on the importance of family. Indeed, Thai individuals who have moved away from their families customarily return to their home during the celebrations to spend time with their close family and elders.
Yet, the most important of the ancient traditions of Songkran is the symbolic presence of water. In Thai culture, water is believed to purify the spirit , both cleansing the body of bad luck as well as blessing it with good fortune. During Songkran, locals would pour water over Buddha statues for cleansing purposes, then collect this water and re-use it to bless village elders and family members by sprinkling it onto their shoulders.
Songkran Festival in Thailand will start at the April , Date : 8 — 13 April , Venue: Benjasiri Park, Bangkok. Songkran gets off a great start with Amazing Songkran Joyful processions staged in the heart of Bangkok on April 8 , at Spectators will have the amazing experience to learn how the Songkran celebration has changed over the years and from region to region.
Best of all, there will be a foam party which gives people a new way to enjoy the watery fun while cooling off at the hottest time of the year. The party takes place from April, and is open to everyone. Cultural activities, including sand sculpture contests along Bangsaen beach, see our post on where to enjoy 5 separate festivals spread over 5 days th April and all within a short distance of one another.
The big parade is at 8am on 14 April. The province normally holds a special Thai — Laos Songkran festival, to honor the long traditions of the two intertwining countries. The parades are really quite spectacular and the whole scene is more about the spiritual side of the festivities rather than simply throwing copious amounts of water.
It features a traditional procession, Thoet Thoeng drums procession, the traditional Song Nam Phra ceremony and Nang Songkran beauty contest th April. Kanchanaburi : Nong Prue sub-district, Kanchanaburi Province. Wax Castle parade, making the wax flowers to decorate the wax castle, Exhibition of Wax Castle History.
The local people are in the main of Mon descent and this is an ideal opportunity for them to proudly dress in their own traditional clothes. The route of the parade is from the district office where there are daily activities including folk games and entertainment such as the ancient game of Saba , plus Tha yae Mon and other traditional Mon music , to Wat Protket Chettharam where the people will make merit by releasing fish and birds.
Suphan Buri : A colourful Songkran procession from 10 districts, beauty contests and concerts, in front of Suphanburi Bus Station, April. Nonthaburi province : This small province ranked 74 th out of 76 provinces in the Kingdom is directly northwest of Bangkok on the Chao Phraya River.
Within its small boarders the majority of its people are of Mon descent and this festival is the biggest annual event for these ancient people. This square shaped small island can proudly boast one of the most colourful Songkran festivals in the Kingdom and hosts a number of activities from the blaze of colour of the Mon people dressed in their traditional clothing and marching in the parade, to the numerious traditional Mon plays and daily activities see more on this festival click here.
Nakhon Phanom : The joint Thai-Lao Songkran festival showcases the cultures of seven different ethnic groups in Nakhon Phanom province. The event includes traditional dances and merit-making ceremony at at the temple. Much like Christmas celebrations in the West, Songkran is a holiday where families travel long distances to celebrate together.
As a sign of respect to elders, younger family members will wash the feet of their parents or the elderly in water that has been scented with rose and jasmine flowers. Additionally, families take the time to do some spring cleaning to also rid homes of bad energy and set the tone for the new year. While these gentler water traditions still remain important to the Thai people, they are largely overshadowed by the more playful water festivities made popular by the younger Thais, tourists, and other visitors who enjoy taking part.
Local authorities often close streets and designate areas where residents can fill buckets of water, water guns, and hose down fellow revelers in the name of Songkran.
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