The aim of the festival is to raise awareness of locals of environmental problems, logging and hunting that put the existence of wild elephants in Laos at risk. Yet for centuries these humble giants played an important role in the daily life of Lao people with deep relations between local Lao communities and the animals.
The program of the festival will festure a grand elephant procession of over a hundred animals followed by a traditional elephant Baci ceremony. There will be fruit and flower offerings as well as monks’ blessing ceremony. The culmination of the festival will be mahout and elephant show. Live performances of local and international music groups will add to the atmosphere of the festival and an abundance of food stalls and night market stalls will not let you die of hunger. An outdoor elephant museum will educate visitors on cultural traditions connected with domestication and breeding of elephant and a documentary film about life and habits of elephants will be shown on a large outdoor screen.
It is about 350 km from Vientiane to Xayaboury over route 4 and 120 km to Luang Prabang.
Elephant Festival in Laos to Start Tomorrow
News in Asia
Sayaboury (Xayabuli) Province in the northwestern part of Laos will host the annual one-week-long Elephant festifaval between February, 20 and February, 27 this year.