Here we go, Cambodia is set to host Water Festival, The pirogue Racing Festival, or Bon Om Touk in Khmer, one of its biggest festivals early this November.

One of the largest festivals of Cambodia revolves around the Tonle Sap. The three-day Water festival of the reversal of the waters of the Great Lake is celebrated in October or November depending on when the waters reverse and flow back into the Mekong River. Boat races, the largest part of the festival, are held at the capital, Phnom Penh. Each village has the opportunity to join in the boat races and usually they do. The boats are usually dugout canoes with a prow and stern that curve upward. The boats are elaborately decorated and carved to represent the village. The prow is painted with a large eye like those that decorated the war vessels of ancient times.

For the people of Cambodia, the water Festival (The pirogue Racing Festival) in Phnom Penh is the most magnificent traditional festival. For three days Phnom Penh citizens, foreign tourists and people from various provinces gather in the capital to celebrate the festival day and night.
The water festival has an extremely unique history. The water festival ceremony trained the army to prepare for battle. In the history, Khmer king always battled with enemies by sailing. So he prepared the water festival ceremony every year to choose a champion of sailing battle, as in Bayon Temple, Batteay Chhmar in the Preah Bat Jayvarman VII. We have seen lots of statues about sailing battles under the leadership of Jayvarman VII.