Celebrate the Songkran Festival (sans water fight) in L.A.

In a recent post, I mentioned the Songkran Festival (Thai New Year), which, from April 13-15, 2008, will take all of Thailand by storm – or at least by lots and lots of water.

During the public holiday, Thais take part in religious and traditional ceremonies, but much more apparent to most visitors are the mobs in the streets with water guns, buckets, hoses and anything else (such as an elephant trunk, pictured) that will hold water. These revelers make it their sole mission to get everyone else soaking wet.

Want to celebrate Thai New Year dry? Lucky for us in L.A., we can do so, and without forking over airfare, or even an admission fee. The free Fifth Annual Thai New Year Day Songkran Festival takes place in Hollywood (along Hollywood Boulevard between Western and Normandie) from 8am-8pm on Sunday, April 13, 2008.

The day’s events will include traditional and Buddhist ceremonies for the new year; a Muay Thai boxing demonstration; a mini-marathon; a Miss Thai New Year USA Contest; and Thai musical and dance entertainment. There will also be loads of food, handicrafts booths, a Singha beer garden and more. In the activities schedule, I don’t see anything about a water fight, but be prepared, just in case.

Have you celebrated Songkran, in L.A. or abroad?

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Lets-Tour-Bangkok.com]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 1:30 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Asia, Family & Kids, Festival, Los Angeles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.