Today and tomorrow ( October 30-31, 2012), is a national holiday in Laos, the Boat Racing Festival,  so schools and businesses are closed.

The Boat Racing Festival is a Buddhist festival  held at the end of the Buddhist Lent ( Awk Phansa) every year in Vientiane starting on the 15th day of the 11th month in the lunar calendar.

Buddhism is embedded in Lao culture, so although I am serving with the Lao Evangelical Church, I hope to learn a lot more about Buddhist culture while I am here.   Everywhere you turn there are monks walking down the street (dressed in orange with umbrellas over their heads) or there is a temple.

The Boat Racing is held in dragon boats on the Mekong River. There are three categories of rowing teams; sports for men, traditional for men, and traditional for women.  The festival is sponsored by big companies, such as Lao Telecom as well as other Lao organizations.

The streets along the Mekong River bank are lined with stalls days before the event also. The stalls sell all kinds of products and foods, from meats, and fruits to Khao Lam, (sticky rice and coconut grilled in bamboo, yummy! ), to clothes and watches.

The festival also includes games, such as pop the balloons, rides for children, and concerts along the riverbank.

Vientiane comes alive during the Boat Racing Festival!