The Boat Racing Festival held in Vientiane will feature a smaller fleet than previous years as part of a scaled-down event amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Governor of Chanthabouly District, Mr. Bounna Phathoummavong, said in a statement that just ten boats will participate in the boat races this year, according to the Lao Post.
The Boat Racing Festival in Vientiane will be held from 1 to 3 October and will take place along the Mekong River near Sithan Neua Village, Sikhottabong District.
The races will commence downstream of Sithan Neua Village and finish at the traditional site near Vat Chan temple.
The finish line has been moved to various sites in recent years in accordance with the volume of water in the Mekong River.
The festival will include stalls for food vendors and the sale of other goods, promoting domestic tourism as part of the Lao Thiao Lao domestic tourism campaign.
Vendors at Vientiane’s night market along the Mekong riverbank have been asked to shut down their stalls temporarily for the duration of the festival, according to a notice issued by the Chao Anouvong Park Management Office.
The Vientiane Boat Racing Festival is the biggest and the most significant boat racing festival in Laos, held at the end of Buddhist Lent each year.
There are usually three categories of boats: traditional boats crewed by men, traditional boats crewed by women, and modified boats with all-male crews.
