BANTEAY MEANCHEY: While the largest Water Festival celebration is expected to be in Phnom Penh from November 26-28, many of Cambodia’s provinces are hosting their own Water Festival events ahead of the big one. Over the weekend, Banteay Meanchey, which borders Thailand, counted over 150,000 entries to the two-day celebration.

Director of the Banteay Meanchey Department of Tourism, Chhoeun Sereyvuth, said that the two-day provincial boat race on the Serei Sophorn River attracted a total of 152,856 people, including nine foreign tourists.

He said that on the first day just over 38,000 people came to watch the boat race, including two foreigners. On Sunday November 12, there were nearly 115,000 revelers, including seven foreigners.

The boat race ended on Sunday afternoon with the closing ceremony under the chairmanship of Ke Kim Yan, Member of Parliament representing Banteay Meanchey.

Cambodia celebrates the Water Festival every year in late October and November and marks the end of rainy season, in addition to a change in the flow of the Tonle Sap River.