PANO - Ho Chi Minh City on April 13th held a festival to celebrate the traditional New Year festival of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.

The event featured customs and cultural rituals of the Cambodian people’s Chol Chnam Thmay, Lao people’s Bun Pi May, Burmese people’s Thing Yan and Thai people’s Trut Sonkran festivals. Special cultural practices such as bathing the Buddha statue, sending best wishes, tying white threads around each other’s wrists for good luck and good health, and splashing water created a friendly and warm atmosphere among participants.

An art performance at the event

In addition, delegates, local people and foreign visitors could also enjoy traditional dances and folk songs performed by Cambodian, Lao, and Thai students, ecountries enjoyed traditional dishes of these and learnt how to dance Lam Vong – the folk dance of the Lao people.

Jointly held by the municipal Youth Culture House, Union of Friendship Association, the Vietnam-Cambodia, Vietnam-Laos, Vietnam-Thailand, Vietnam-Southeast Asia Friendship Associations, and the International Buddhist Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in the city, the festival was in a bid to help the expatriates feel like home in their traditional New Year festivals as well as to strengthen friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding between Vietnamese people and its neighbors.

Translated by Tran Hoai