Xayabouly Province is preparing for this year’s Masked Ghost Festival, or Phi Ta Khon Festival, from 31 January to 2 February.
Traditionally this festival is a three day celebration combining Buddhist merit-making with local customs, featuring masked parades, colorful costumes, music, dance, games, and playful performances that invite protection from ancestral spirits.
The origins of the Phi Ta Khon Festival trace back to the Buddhist tale of Prince Vessantara, known to Lao people as Phavet. In Buddhist tradition, Prince Vessantara is revered for his boundless generosity.
Local legend holds that when he returned from years of exile in the forest, spirits and forest guardians followed him home, symbolising the close bond between the spiritual and human worlds. This belief later gave rise to the festival’s iconic “ghost” procession.
Each of the festival’s three days offers a distinct experience.
The first day is the most visually striking, as villagers don colourful costumes and handcrafted masks made from bamboo, rice husks, and coconut leaves. The masks feature exaggerated expressions, oversized heads, long noses, protruding tongues, and large ears, while participants wear patchwork outfits decorated with bells and carry carved wooden objects. Costumed revelers parade through the streets, playing games and engaging with the Phi Ta Khon, ancestral spirits believed to protect the community.
The second day mixes elements of the traditional rocket festival with costume contests, dance performances, and parades.
The celebrations then shift to a more spiritual tone on the final day, when villagers gather to listen to Buddhist sermons delivered by monks.
The name Phi Ta Khon comes from the Lao phrase phi tam khon, literally translated as “ghosts follow people”.


