Festival of the Boats of Light, Lao PDR

In Luang Prabang Province, locals mark the end of Buddhist Lent by paraded decorated boats through the town; at night they are launched onto the river and ceremoniously set on fire as offerings to spirits. The villages around the town build their own big boat for the spectacle, competing annually to create the most beautiful for the year. Even the temples get in on the action – each building two boats, one to float down the river, and another to maintain on the temple grounds. Boat races are held to ritually reclaim the land from the Naga, chasing them out from fields and streams and back into the Mekong River. (Tourism Laos)