Celebrating Songkran, Thailand's Water Festival
Learn about Songkran, a New Year festival in Thailand that is celebrated in April.
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Transcript
YASMIN: "Sava-tika, I'm Yasmin, I'm 11 and I come from Thailand. I am going to show you how we celebrate our new year. It's called Songkran, which means Water Festival."
NARRATOR: Before the celebration begins Yasmin has to clean the house with her mother, because if your home is untidy at the new year you are in for a year of bad luck. In Thailand the Water Festival, or Thai New Year, is celebrated in the middle of April, not on the first of January. People usually eat a lot on this occasion. Yasmin helps her mother cook. Thai cuisine is pretty spicy.
Yasmin dresses up in a traditional Thai outfit for the festivities. Her gown is one large piece of fabric and is called a sarong. In her homeland men often wear such garments too.
YASMIN: "So, I'm finally ready, and now I have to hurry to pack something for the monks, after all, they'll be hungry too."
NARRATOR: Yasmin is a Buddhist - like most other people in Thailand. In the temple Yasmin and her girlfriends sprinkle the various Buddha statues with water. Then she presents a bowl of water to the monks and receives their blessing. The water will cleanse Yasmin so she can enter the new year pure.
After the blessing ceremony the food is given to the monks. At home the celebration continues. Yasmin hands her mother a bowl of water so she will bless her too. With this ritual children here also show their respect towards their parents.
YASMIN: "And now comes the most fun part of the Songkran Festival."
NARRATOR: Friends stop in for a visit. The children go out on the street and spray each other with water, wishing good fortune for the new year. People get each other soaking wet in Thailand, but it is a bit warmer there. Yasmin and her friends have lots of fun. At the close of the Water Festival the friends sit down for a feast. They eat meat, rice and vegetables. They certainly worked up an appetite during that water fight.
NARRATOR: Before the celebration begins Yasmin has to clean the house with her mother, because if your home is untidy at the new year you are in for a year of bad luck. In Thailand the Water Festival, or Thai New Year, is celebrated in the middle of April, not on the first of January. People usually eat a lot on this occasion. Yasmin helps her mother cook. Thai cuisine is pretty spicy.
Yasmin dresses up in a traditional Thai outfit for the festivities. Her gown is one large piece of fabric and is called a sarong. In her homeland men often wear such garments too.
YASMIN: "So, I'm finally ready, and now I have to hurry to pack something for the monks, after all, they'll be hungry too."
NARRATOR: Yasmin is a Buddhist - like most other people in Thailand. In the temple Yasmin and her girlfriends sprinkle the various Buddha statues with water. Then she presents a bowl of water to the monks and receives their blessing. The water will cleanse Yasmin so she can enter the new year pure.
After the blessing ceremony the food is given to the monks. At home the celebration continues. Yasmin hands her mother a bowl of water so she will bless her too. With this ritual children here also show their respect towards their parents.
YASMIN: "And now comes the most fun part of the Songkran Festival."
NARRATOR: Friends stop in for a visit. The children go out on the street and spray each other with water, wishing good fortune for the new year. People get each other soaking wet in Thailand, but it is a bit warmer there. Yasmin and her friends have lots of fun. At the close of the Water Festival the friends sit down for a feast. They eat meat, rice and vegetables. They certainly worked up an appetite during that water fight.