Laotian international students celebrate traditional Bunpimay New Year Festival

A musical performance to celebrate the traditional Laotian New Year Festival

The Bunpimay festival celebration is an annual event of Hue College, showing care, support, and encouragement for Laotian students spending the New Year away from home. It also helps strengthen solidarity among Vietnamese and Laotian students, fostering the special friendship between Vietnam and Laos in general, and between Hue City and the provinces of South Central Laos in particular.

Lao New Year festival, also known as Bunpimay, is the most important festival of the year for Laotianpeople. It typically takes place in mid-April. In 2025, Bunpimay will be celebrated from April 13th to April 15th on the Gregorian calendar, with traditional rituals to honor ancestors and to pray for health, peace, and prosperity.

This year, the Bunpimay celebration at Hue College featured ceremonies and activities rich in the traditional cultural identity of Laotian people. The Lao students reminisced about the history of their traditional New Year and showcased their cultural heritage, clothing, homeland, and people through vibrant musical performances and fashion shows.

When talking about Bunpimay Festival, one cannot forget the water-splashing ritual. At the event, this custom is performed with the symbolic meaning of bringing coolness, prosperity to all living things, and spiritual purification for a fresh start in life.

Prior to the celebration, from March 9th to April 12th, Hue College also organized football and volleyball tournaments for both male and female students at the college dormitory. These sporting activities aimed to encourage students to actively practice sports to improve their physical and mental health; enhance communication, learning, solidarity and promote team spirit in all activities.