Young Happy as Water Festival Returns
Participants race dragon boats during a competition at the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh on November 12, 2019. / AFP / TANG CHHIN Sothy
- By Nhor Sokhoeurn
- November 25, 2023 6:14 PM
PHNOM PENH – As the Water Festival makes a return this weekend, young people are happy to celebrate the event once again.
Min Sokeany, a fourth-year civil engineering student at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, said he was delighted, particularly because the event had been postponed for the last three years.
“I thought this year would be more wonderful and people might take part in the festival a lot so I will join the Bon Om Tuk as well,” he said, referring to its name in the Khmer language.
The National Committee for Organizing National and International Festivals has planned to make this festival a big event this year, including fireworks during the three nights.
“It’s first time to me see Bon Om Tuk in Phnom Penh,” Sokeany said. “I decided to stay in Phnom Penh on the 26th and go to my hometown on 27th and 28th.”
After finishing high school in Kampong Chhnang province, Sokeany continued his higher education in Phnom Penh in 2020. “In the provinces, I rarely see a national festival like Bon Om Tuk,” he said.
Seab Sreyrath, a year-three student at the Department of Media and Communication, is also excited that the festival is back.
A Kampong Cham native, she has been living in Phnom Penh with her aunt for four years.
“I have never joined the Water festival in Phnom Penh until now,” she said. But after being away from home for some time, she won’t be in Phnom Penh. The festival is also a public holiday.
“I also wanted to see Bon Om Tuk event, but I miss my home town, so I want to go home more than stay in Phnom Penh,” she said.
Sreyrath expects that this year’s Water festival will be bigger than the last time and many people will take part after the three-year hiatus.
The Water Festival has been cancelled seven times in Phnom Penh since 2011. In 2011 and 2013, the celebrations were suspended due to flooding while the 2012 festival was halted as the country was mourning the death of former King Norodom Sihanouk.
In 2015, it was postponed due to the water level being too low to row the boats. The event in 2020 and 2021 was put off due to the COVID-19 pandemic and last year again because Cambodia hosted the ASEAN summit.
The Water Festival takes place from Nov. 26 to 28. Festivities will unfold along the Tonle Sap River in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.
