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Andrew Alan Johnson, Visiting Scholar of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley

Water fights, magical decapitated heads and family reunions – the Southeast Asian festival of Songkran has it all

People celebrating the Songkran Festival in Luang Prabang, Laos, in April 2021. Xinhua/Kaikeo Saiyasane via Getty Images

In many countries in Southeast Asia, such as Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, the arrival of spring also marks the beginning of the new year. Songkran (สงกรานต์), as the festival welcoming in the new year is called in Thai, is often celebrated with playful water fights on city streets over the course of three chaotic days.

In 2022, Songkran will begin April 13 and last until the evening of April 15. The dates are calculated via the lunisolar calendar, which accounts both for the movement of the sun through the zodiac and the moon’s cycles. Specifically, the dates mark the period when the Sun’s leaving the constellation of Pisces and entering Aries.

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