Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival

The Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival, Inc. is dedicated to the preservation, protection and sharing of the cultural heritages of the Southeast Asian Americans of Greater Lowell, Massachusetts area.

Every 3rd Saturday in August, more than 60,000 people from around the country and the world come to Lowell to celebrate water as it is celebrated in Southeast Asia. They come for the blessings, food, crafts, performances and (of course) the races. (watch the video)

In 1997, the first Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival celebrated the culture of Lowell's many Khmer citizens. In 2002, representatives of Lowell's Khmer, Thai, Vietnamese and Laotian communities incorporated the Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival, Inc as a 501c3 tax exempt non-profit corporation.

Blessings

Buddhist scripture explains that the Water Festival is held to thank the spirit of the water, to pray for evil spirits to go away, and to honor the Dragon King who dwells in the water. The Water Festival is a time to be thankful for the rivers, lakes and ponds that villagers depend upon for their livelihood and economic development.

On the morning of the races, there is a parade along the Merrimack river near the Sampas pavilion, blessing dances and a blessing of the the boats by monks.

Food and Crafts (the booths)

Community groups and businesses are encouraged to setup booths share information and to sell food, drink, crafts and other merchandise.

Food vendors must prepare their food in an restaurant, church, temple or other establishment that has a food permit granted by the board of health. Food vendors are required to bring their permit to the orientation session.

Performances

At the festival, traditional artisans, clowns, muscicians, dancers and singers have center stage.

...but leave room for more modern performers. Little girls hip-hop. Young men rap in Khmer. The popular and mostly traditional acrobatic Monkey Dancers, do some break dancing to modern Southeast Asian pop sounds.

There are performance videos. However, the performances are best appreciated live and in person at the festival

Races

Boats have a crew of between 18 and 24 members, including one team captain, one steerer, and one drummer. Boats, paddles, and safety equipment provided by Race Officials. The race is for 1000 meters (roughly 9 football fields, including the end zones)

Each race has two boats. The first heats select the eight fastest teams who advance to the semi-finals. The last race is at approximately 5:00pm