Bon Om Touk 2026: no Water Festival in Phnom Penh, but the provinces celebrate

Bon Om Touk, Cambodia's Water Festival

Bon Om Touk, the Water Festival, marks the end of the rainy season. It runs for three days around the full moon of the Khmer month of Kadeuk, in October or November, and gives thanks to the water for the harvests it brings^[14][7]. Its heart is in Phnom Penh: boat races on the Tonle Sap River, over a 1.7-kilometer (1-mile) course in front of the Royal Palace^[11].

Three ceremonies go with the races. In the evening, the Loy Pratip sends a parade of illuminated boats down the river, each decorated by a ministry or public institution. At the full moon, the Sampeah Preah Khae salutes the moon. The Auk Ambok is the tasting of ambok, new rice toasted and then flattened^[7]. The King watches the races from a stand on the riverfront, switches on the illuminated boats and hands out the prizes on the last day^[7][8].

Bon Om Touk 2026: no Water Festival in Phnom Penh

In late June 2026, the government announced it would not hold the celebrations planned for November 23 to 25, 2026, on the Tonle Sap in Phnom Penh. It is the second year in a row^[1][2]. It cited aid for displaced people, the situation on the border with Thailand and other pressing public needs^[1]. There will be no races and no official ceremonies in the capital.

November 23, 24 and 25, 2026, remain public holidays^[4][2], and the provinces may hold their own celebrations according to local traditions^[1]. In 2025, after a first cancellation in Phnom Penh linked to the border conflict^[5], the Ministry of Tourism counted 2.36 million visitors in the provinces over the three days. Siem Reap came first, with 368,246 visitors and friendly boat races^[6]. As of early October 2026, no provincial program had been published.

It's not the first break. The festival was canceled in 2011 and 2013 because of floods, in 2012 after the death of King Father Norodom Sihanouk, and in 2015 because the river was too low^[3]. It returned in 2023, after a three-year hiatus^[8].

The Phnom Penh boat races

At the last edition, in 2024, 348 boats and about 22,000 rowers were registered^[9]. The longest boats are more than 30 meters (100 feet) long, and one category carries nearly 80 rowers per boat^[7]. Crews come from the capital and the provinces^[8].

The crowds are huge: according to the Ministry of Tourism, nearly 7.7 million visitors were counted nationwide during the 2024 festival^[10]. These are official estimates that add up visits over three days. In 2024, more than 16,000 police officers were deployed, and access to Koh Pich island was closed whenever the area was full^[9].

The Koh Pich bridge tragedy, 2010

Those precautions have a history. On November 22, 2010, the last night of the festival, a stampede on the bridge linking Phnom Penh to Koh Pich island killed 353 people, according to the final official list. Figures announced by the authorities ranged from 347 to 456 dead^[12].

Does Bon Om Touk celebrate the Tonle Sap reversal?

You often read that the festival celebrates the moment the Tonle Sap River, which flowed up toward the lake during the flood, starts flowing back to the Mekong. The link is real, but the dates don't match: the festival follows the moon, and the reversal usually comes several weeks earlier. In 2023, the MRC recorded the current flowing back toward the Mekong from October 23, a month before the festival on November 26 to 28^[13].

According to a widely repeated tradition, the festival recalls the naval victories of the Angkorian empire, especially Jayavarman VII's victory over the Chams in the late 12th century^[8]. Battles between Khmer and Cham boats are carved on the walls of the Bayon, at Angkor. No source from the period, however, links the races to that victory.

Where to see boat races on the Mekong in 2026

In Cambodia, watch for announcements from the provinces: in 2025, Siem Reap held its own races during the public holidays^[6].

Upstream, Laos and Thailand have related festivals about a month earlier, at the end of Buddhist Lent. In Vientiane, the Boun Suang Heua boat races were held on the Mekong from October 4 to 8 in 2025^[15]; the 2026 date had not been confirmed by early October. Across the river, in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, the Lai Reua Fai sends boats of light down the river around the end of Lent^[16].

Pierre-Marie Coupry

Editor-in-chief of the French travel site Bon Plan Voyage, where he has published since 2012. He checks every practical detail against official sources and proofreads everything before it goes live.

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