Elephant festival draws jumbo crowd in Laos

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) - Xayaboury is once again hosting its annual Elephant Festival with 70 elephants and their mahouts taking part this year and entertaining the crowds with a wide range of activites.

The festival, which has been gaining in popularity every year since it first took place in Hongsa district in 2007, featured an impressive opening ceremony on Saturday, with activities underway from February 17 to 28.

The main focus of this year’s event are the various performances staged by the elephants each day, demonstrating both their intelligence and dexterity.

Among the highlights are a baci for the elephants, a Beautiful Elephant contest, and a demonstration of how elephants are trained to perform circus routines.

Visitors can also watch the elephants bathing, take a ride on one, and feed and touch these graceful and stately animals.

The opening procession featured 70 of these majestic beasts, as well as groups of people in traditional dress representing Xayaboury province’s 11 districts and eight ethnic groups.

The opening ceremony was attended by President of the National Assembly, Mrs Pany Yathotou, the Governor of Xayaboury province, Mr Phongsavanh Sitthavong,Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Boua Ngeun Xaphouvong, and officials from the central provinces.

An almsgiving ceremony on Friday was attended by a large group of monks and several hundred visitors. On Sunday, visiting officials rode on elephants through Xayaboury district.

The elephants took centre stage with a special programme of events. They delighted spectators by presenting them with flowers, painting pictures, and playing games. They even danced a pachyderm version of the lamvong. Another highlight of the festival is the colourful street fair with several hundred stalls selling products made locally and in neighbouring countries.

When evening falls the festival grounds come alive with traditional dancing and concerts performed by local schoolchildren, along with boxing bouts and other forms of entertainment.

Provincial Governor Mr Phongsavanh said this was the 13th elephant festival hosted by the province.

It’s considered to be the most important festival in the area as it shines a spotlight on the dwindling elephant population in Laos and teaches the younger generation about the need to protect the shrinking herds.

Elephants are symbolic of Xayaboury province and of Laos, and the country has a long, ingrained association with this iconic animal.

The festival informs people about the value of elephants in days gone by and the ongoing conservation efforts to protect them.

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Laos' Xayaboury prepares for influx of elephants, Chinese | #AsiaNewsNetwork

Xayaboury authorities are wondering how to accommodate the 500 or so Chinese visitors who will attend the elephant festival in the provincial capital this week and next.

The popular annual event always sees guesthouses fully booked as people from around Laos flock to Xayaboury for the rare chance to see elephants close up and personal.

The Chinese contingent will travel in a convoy of vehicles arranged by a local tour operator.

Head of the Xayaboury provincial Information, Culture and Tourism Department, Mr Chanthy Symanychan, said 70 elephants will take part in this year’s festival, which runs from February 22-28.

The event will include cultural performances by eight ethnic groups while the elephants will also put on shows including running and picture painting, and will play games of football and bowling.

Another big attraction is a street fair selling handicrafts and goods made in Laos and neighbouring countries.

Visitors can watch the elephants taking a bath and also take elephant rides through the town, Mr Chanthy said.

In addition to preparing for the elephant festival, provincial authorities are working to improve services at hotels, guesthouses and restaurants to ensure visitors enjoy their stay during Visit Laos-China Year 2019.

The authorities plan to add Chinese language to signs at some popular tourist sites and publish Chinese language guidebooks.

Tourist attractions in general will be improved and local residents will be encouraged to create activities for district festivals.

Xaysathan district is one of Xayaboury’s standout features because of its foggy weather and fresh air. This area is at a high altitude and authorities plan to create a viewpoint for visitors. The town is about 60km from the provincial capital.

Xayaboury province is about 300km from Vientiane and is full of fascinating sights. There are 29 officially designated nature-based attractions, 12 cultural sites, and six historical sites.

You can learn more about Xayaboury province by visiting the website the website:www.tourismsayaboury.org

During Visit Laos Year 2018, more than 4.1 million people took holidays in Laos, an increase of 8.2 percent over the previous year. At least 800,000 people came from China, an increase of 26 percent on 2017.

Tourism officials are hoping to attract more than 1 million Chinese visitors out of an overall total of 4.5 million during Visit Laos-China Year 2019.

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Elephant Festival in Laos to Start Tomorrow

Sayaboury (Xayabuli) Province in the northwestern part of Laos will host the annual one-week-long Elephant festifaval between February, 20 and February, 27 this year.

The aim of the festival is to raise awareness of locals of environmental problems, logging and hunting that put the existence of wild elephants in Laos at risk. Yet for centuries these humble giants played an important role in the daily life of Lao people with deep relations between local Lao communities and the animals.

The program of the festival will festure a grand elephant procession of over a hundred animals followed by a traditional elephant Baci ceremony. There will be fruit and flower offerings as well as monks’ blessing ceremony. The culmination of the festival will be mahout and elephant show. Live performances of local and international music groups will add to the atmosphere of the festival and an abundance of food stalls and night market stalls will not let you die of hunger. An outdoor elephant museum will educate visitors on cultural traditions connected with domestication and breeding of elephant and a documentary film about life and habits of elephants will be shown on a large outdoor screen.

It is about 350 km from Vientiane to Xayaboury over route 4 and 120 km to Luang Prabang.

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Sayabouly Elephant Festival

As living icon with important symbolic connotations and historical association in Laos the elephants an animal dear to the heart of the Lao people.

The Elephant Festival is celebrated specifically in Xayabouly Province and is held to demonstrate culture and traditional ties between Lao communities and elephants, as well as drawing attention to the endangered status of this charismatic species.

The Elephant Festival is a free, all-ages event with activities including a majestic elephant procession with up to 100 elephants, a traditional elephant Baci ceremony, fruit and flower offerings, monks’ blessing, mahout and elephant show. In addition, there are live performance from Lao and foreign artist, a night market and outdoor elephant museum.

Visitors will have the opportunity to see documentary film on a large outdoor screen and enjoy live performance on the main stage or go for an elephant drive in the neighbouring forest.

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Elephant festival celebrated in Laos

VIENTIANE, Feb 17: The Elephant Festival was held from Friday to next Thursday in northern Lao province of Sayabuly with 69 elephants joining the activities.

The elephant festival has been held annually for 12 years since 2007, with the purpose to educate, entertain the people, to raise awareness of these endangered animals and identify the need to protect elephants, which have played a vital role in Lao people’s livelihoods, culture and heritage.

On the occasion, elephant shows, parades and elephant beauty pageant were held at the opening ceremony in Sayabuly province, some 250 km northwest of Lao capital Vientiane.

In addition, exhibition of local produce, culture products and handicrafts are displayed at 227 booths.

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Chinese company signs agreement to build elephant protection center in Laos

China's Yunnan Provincial Investment Holding Group has signed an agreement with the government of northern Lao Sayabuly Province to build the Asian Elephant Species Protection, Breeding and Rescue Center.

The agreement was signed on Saturday on the sidelines of the International Elephants Festival and Visit Laos Year 2018 in Sayabuly province.

The deal aims to protect, breed, rescue and provide assistance to popularize the endangered animals particularly Asian elephants and to promote tourism in the province.

Yunnan Provincial Investment Holding Group was welcomed by the Lao President Bounnhang Vorachit to invest in the elephant protection center in Laos. He also expected more investment in Lao infrastructure and other sectors, said a press release issued by the Chinese company.

The local government will give strong support to the project which is expected to promote local tourism. The development of the industry may make Sayabuly a landmark tourism city for Chinese visitors, said the Lao president.

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Elephants on Parade in Laos to Raise Awareness about the Animals

Dozens of elephants, adorned in bright colors and with garlands of flowers, paraded through a Laotian town on Saturday in a celebration of a species that has become increasingly scarce in the Southeast Asian country.

Known historically as the "Land of a Million Elephants", Laos now has only a few hundred left in the wild and not many more than that in captivity, most of which are used in logging.

Nearly 70 elephants joined the main procession at the 11th annual elephant festival in Sayaboury Province some 200 km (120 miles) northwest of the capital Vientiane.

"The festival is organized to draw the public's attention to the condition of the endangered elephant as well as promoting traditional culture and livelihoods," said Yanyong Sipaseuth, the deputy governor of the province.

Wild elephant numbers have dwindled because of the destruction of their forest habitat, although poaching for ivory has also played a part, conservationists say.

A ban on capturing elephants from the wild so they can be domesticated has put greater strain on the existing captive population, meaning elephants are often worked so hard that they fall sick and no longer reproduce.

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Elephant festival in northern Lao province

The 11th elephant festival took place in Laos’s northwestern province of Sayabouly on February 18.

The annual event, which drew the participation of Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and hundreds of thousands of visitors at home and abroad, aims to raise public awareness of elephant conservation.

It also demonstrates the close-knit relations between Lao people and elephants.

The elephant festival was held for the first time in 2007.

This year’s event attracted over 300,000 visitors, doubling the number in 2016.

It was commenced with a majestic parade of nearly 70 elephants, followed by other activities such as playing football, running, drawing, and tug-of-war contests among the participating elephants.

The festival also featured various cultural and artistic performances staged by local ethnic groups.

Sayabouly is now home to more than 400 domestic elephants and hundreds of wild elephants.

The Lao government has put forth a number of policies in recent years to protect elephants in association with tourism development.

The government also plans to expand the elephant festival to national scale in the years to come.

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Lao elephant festival to feature almost 70 elephants

VIENTIANE, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Lao Elephant Festival 2017 is scheduled to be held from Feb. 13 to 19, 2017 in the northern Xayabouly province with the expectation of almost 70 elephants joining activities during the festival.

The festival is one of the major events of the province and represents past times when the elephant population included countless numbers of elephants. As a result, Laos was then known as the Land of a Million Elephants, Deputy Governor of Xayabouly Province Yanhyong Sipasert was quoted by Lao state-run news agency KPL as saying on Tuesday.

Elephant stories have been blended into the culture and livelihood of Lao multi-ethnic people from time immemorial. The Elephant Festival has been held for almost 10 years. In addition to entertaining and educating spectators about elephants, the festival aims to raise awareness of these endangered animals and calls for the protection within Laos and around the world.

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