Khmer and Lao New Year 2027: dates, where to go and what closes

The 2027 dates: official in Cambodia, expected in Laos

Khmer New Year (Choul Chnam Thmey) falls on Wednesday 14, Thursday 15 and Friday 16 April 2027. All three are official public holidays. With Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 April straight after, the holiday runs into a five-day stretch from Wednesday to Sunday. Our Cambodia festivals calendar gives the rest of the year's holidays.

Lao New Year (Boun Pi Mai) has a three-day core under Article 55 of the Labour Law, and the ASEAN-Japan Centre's calendar of Lao holidays gave 14 to 16 April for 2026. For 2027 the same dates, Wednesday to Friday, are expected once the Prime Minister's Office issues the 2027 holiday list, which can add days: in 2023, when two of the three days fell on a weekend, it declared Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 April holidays in compensation. In 2027 all three days fall on weekdays; with no weekend day to replace, no extra holiday is expected. The Laos festivals calendar covers the other Lao festivals.

The events described below are those of 2025 and 2026, as a guide to what to expect. Thailand's Songkran starts a day earlier. The three countries' holidays compare like this:

Three days of merit-making, water and games

Khmer New Year begins at a precise moment, when a New Year angel is welcomed: in 2026 the Year of the Horse began at 10:48 on 14 April. Over the three days most Cambodians go back to their home villages, visit the pagoda and take a trip to a famous site. On the first day pagodas hold Buddha processions and Buddha-bathing ceremonies, and people pile up small sand stupas in the courtyards. The second day, Vireak Wanabat, is the day of performances and folk games, among them Chol Chhoung, a scarf-throwing game, Leak Kanseng, in which a scarf is hidden, and tug-of-war. The third is the day of Srang Preah, when Buddha images are bathed to wash away the old year's misfortunes; afterwards people pour water over the hands of their parents and elders at home.

Lao New Year follows the same rhythm. Temples hold watering ceremonies for their Buddha images, people build sand stupas to make merit, and towns stage processions and almsgiving. In Luang Prabang most people stay drenched for much of the festival.

It is also the week both countries travel, to their families and to their great monuments. Expect busy roads and full temples.

Siem Reap and Angkor: New Year at the temples

For Cambodians, Angkor is the place to be at New Year. Many Cambodians choose the Angkor area for every big holiday, and the temples fill in the full heat of the dry season. The APSARA National Authority counted 22,671 visitors in the Angkor area on the first day of the 2026 holiday, nine in ten of them Cambodian. In town, the province and the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia held traditional boat races, dragon-boat competitions and river cruises on the Siem Reap River in 2026.

The biggest show in some years has been Angkor Sankranta, organised by the youth federation since 2013. In 2025 it ran from 14 to 16 April across six sites, including the grounds in front of Angkor Wat, the Royal Residence Park, the Siem Reap River and Pub Street: a parade, ox-cart racing, games of Khmer chess (ok chaktrang), martial-arts displays, classical and folk dance, a market by the river, water play and a Buddha-bathing ceremony. It is not held every year in the same form: in 2026 the federation organised the first Nokor Sankranta in Phnom Penh instead, and Siem Reap's programme was run with the province. The 2025 edition was announced in March; the 2027 edition had not been announced in October 2026.

For the temples themselves, on 28 October 2026 Angkor Enterprise listed Angkor Wat open from 05:00 to 17:30 and an Angkor pass at US$37 for one day, US$62 for three visiting days with expiry in seven days, or US$72 for seven visiting days with expiry in 30 days. Go at opening time and leave the afternoon to the town's festivities. Our Angkor guide explains which temples to see on each pass, and the Siem Reap guide covers the town and getting in from the airport.

Phnom Penh: buses home and a riverside festival

Phnom Penh is where Cambodia's New Year journey home begins. The Phnom Penh Capital Administration ran free buses from 12 to 17 April 2026, with 500 coaches to the provinces and 100 within the city, and 119,490 passengers used them; the government runs the same service every Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben.

The city's festival is on the river. In 2025 it held a three-day programme at Wat Phnom, from 08:00 to 20:00, with the welcoming of the New Year angel, a Buddha procession, sand stupas and Buddha bathing on the first day, then folk games and performances, and on the third day traditional dances, an exhibition of Khmer cultural artefacts and Khmer food. Walk Street along Preah Sisowath Quay, between the Royal Palace and Wat Phnom, ran for five days, from 12 to 16 April, with shadow puppets, masked and Yike theatre, chapei dang veng music and a traditional costume show. In 2026 this grew into the first Nokor Sankranta, from 14 to 19 April at six sites including Wat Phnom, the former Freedom Park and the Chaktomuk Walk Street from the Night Market to the Royal Palace; on the third day a Buddha image was carried from Wat Ounalom to Wat Phnom for the Srang Preah water blessing. It rode on an ornate busabok throne and was bathed with water from Phnom Kulen, and the crowd far outgrew the organisers' estimate. That year's programme had more than 20 religious and artistic performances, Khmer product exhibitions and three concert stages.

Between the festivities, on 28 October 2026 the National Museum of Cambodia listed daily hours of 08:00 to 17:00, with the last tickets at 16:30, and admission of US$10 for foreign adults. Our Phnom Penh guide covers the Royal Palace, the museums and the riverfront.

Luang Prabang: ten days of processions and sand stupas

Luang Prabang's tourism office calls Pi Mai the town's most popular festival, and the programme goes well beyond the three holidays. Over the week it describes an elephant procession, a grand parade of thousands of locals in traditional costume, the crowning of Miss Lao New Year (Nang Sangkhane), sand stupa building beside the Mekong, and the carrying of the Pha Bang (also written Prabang), the town's most precious Buddha image, from the National Museum to Wat Mai for a watering ceremony. In 2026 the district announced a ten-day celebration from 11 to 20 April with the Nang Sangkhane pageant, the Hae Vor cultural procession, the bathing of the Pha Bang, an elephant procession, sand stupas at Don Say Moungkhoun and markets of local food and crafts.

The Pha Bang is worth planning around. Cast from a mix of bronze, silver and gold, it stands 83 cm tall, weighs 43 kg and is said to have come from Angkor in the 1350s; it leaves its shrine in the former Royal Palace grounds only once a year, for Pi Mai, and stays at Wat Mai for three days while people from across the country pour water over it. In 2025 the procession was on 17 April.

Luang Prabang is the most popular destination of the Lao holiday, so book the room as soon as you have dates; train tickets come later, as the transport section below explains. Our Luang Prabang guide covers the temples, Kuang Si and where to stay.

Vientiane: temple rituals in the capital

Vientiane is a calmer place to see Pi Mai, and its New Year centres on the great temples. Pha That Luang, the holiest site in the capital and a national symbol, is a 44-metre stupa coated in some 500 kg of gold leaf inside a high-walled cloister. Wat Si Saket, built in 1818–1824 for King Anouvong, is the city's oldest monastery, its sanctuary walls covered in painted scenes, and Ho Phra Keo is the former royal temple built to house the Emerald Buddha. All three normally charge an entrance fee at the gate, but for the three days of New Year in 2026 the heritage management office of Vientiane's Department of Information, Culture and Tourism waived it and invited visitors to pour scented water over the Buddha images. Our Vientiane guide covers the city and its two railway stations.

A 2026 notice from the Vientiane Public Security Headquarters banned spraying water onto roads with hoses, throwing ice in plastic bags and using coloured or dirty water, limited loudspeakers to 08:00–23:00 and 80 decibels, banned riding in pickup beds or on vehicle roofs, and fined anyone with fireworks or sky lanterns. Visitors pouring water over monks or Buddha images at temples must dress modestly, which means no shorts for men and nothing short or revealing for women, and swimming in the Mekong is banned without permission or lifeguards on duty.

What closes, and buses, trains and flights

Government offices close for the three days in both countries: Cambodia's decree makes them holidays for civil servants, employees and workers, and the Lao Labour Law gives employees paid rest days, so deal with visas and other paperwork before 14 April. Angkor stayed open through the 2026 holiday. Carry enough cash for the three days.

In Cambodia, the long-distance buses are the pinch point. Giant Ibis's Phnom Penh–Siem Reap route page gives 320 km and about six hours. On 28 October 2026, Giant Ibis's booking search had seven Phnom Penh–Siem Reap departures on sale for Tuesday 13 April 2027, from 07:45 to 23:00, scheduled at five and a half to seven and a half hours and priced at US$17–26 a seat, and seven Siem Reap–Phnom Penh departures for Sunday 18 April, from 07:45 to 22:30, at the same fares; its online payment adds US$1 per passenger. Travel on 13 April rather than on the first morning of the holiday. To skip the road, fly into Siem Reap Angkor International (SAI), or into Techo International (KTI), which took over Phnom Penh's major airline services in September 2025; our Cambodia transport guide covers both airports.

In Laos, the Laos–China Railway is the quick way between Vientiane and Luang Prabang, and it fills up at New Year. Tickets are sold in the official LCR Ticket app, and the April 2026 fares listed Vientiane–Luang Prabang at LAK360,000 in second class, LAK569,000 in first and LAK1,063,000 in business. In 2024 the Laos–China Railway added two EMU trains between Vientiane and Luang Prabang from 12 to 19 April and sold tickets for 14 to 22 April up to seven days in advance, and in 2025 it ran additional services from 11 to 20 April with the same seven-day window. In October 2026, Tourism Luang Prabang listed five departures from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, between 12:52 and 19:22. For the Vientiane to Luang Prabang direction, search the LCR Ticket app, which shows each train's times. If the trains are full, fly: in October 2026 Tourism Luang Prabang listed a daily Lao Airlines flight and Lao Skyway flights on Fridays and Sundays on the Luang Prabang–Vientiane route.

Two stations matter. In Vientiane, the Laos–China Railway uses its own Vientiane Station in Xaythany district, separate from Khamsavath, where trains from Bangkok via Nong Khai have arrived since July 2024; in Luang Prabang, the station is in Phik village, about 15 km or 30 minutes from town. Our Laos transport guide explains both journeys.

Flying into Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ), 4 km from the centre, is the part of a Lao trip you can book well ahead. In October 2026, Tourism Luang Prabang listed flights from Luang Prabang to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok Airways), Bangkok Don Mueang (AirAsia), Hanoi (Lao Airlines and Vietnam Airlines), Chiang Mai and Vientiane, and to Siem Reap with Lao Airlines and Vietnam Airlines, which links the two New Years without crossing Thailand.

How it differs from Songkran, and seeing both

Thailand's Songkran guide describes the festival most travellers know: official holidays from Tuesday 13 to Thursday 15 April 2027, with water fights on Bangkok's Silom and Khao San roads and around the moat of Chiang Mai's old city. Khmer New Year has the same roots, the same sand stupas and the same bathing of Buddha images, but in 2026 the celebration moved back towards the pagodas, folk games and family visits (the rules are below). Laos sits in between: Luang Prabang has its water fights, while Vientiane's police set out detailed rules.

Seeing both festivals in one trip means moving during the busiest week of the year. On 28 October 2026 the UK Foreign Office (FCDO) said the land crossings between Thailand and Cambodia remain suspended (other governments' advice may differ; check your own), so fly from Bangkok to Siem Reap, as our Bangkok to Siem Reap route explains. Laos is easier, by train from Bangkok via Nong Khai to Vientiane. Either way, book the Thai leg early: in 2026 Thailand's state bus company planned its Songkran rush for 9 to 19 April.

Water, powder and temple manners

The rules are set year by year, close to the holiday: Vientiane's 2026 police notice was dated 7 April, seven days before it began. For 2026, the Cambodian government banned public water splashing, talcum powder and fireworks across the capital and provincial towns, and Phnom Penh's Nokor Sankranta was held without water play; the young washed the hands and feet of their elders and poured scented water over Buddha images instead. Vientiane's own list is in the section above. Where water play does happen, as in Luang Prabang, keep your phone, passport and cash in a waterproof pouch.

Elsewhere, dress modestly at temples and leave alone anyone who is clearly not playing. The heat is the other hazard in mid-April, so carry water and keep the middle of the day for the shade.