Water Festival 2017

The Water Festival, the second biggest holiday in Cambodia after the Khmer New Year, is November 2-4 this year. I won’t be around for it (I have a meeting in Hong Kong) but today there were lots of preparations taking place along the waterfront near the Royal Palace.

One of the most noticeable changes on the waterfront is replacing the usual flags of many nations with only the Cambodian flag.
A crew was working on the royal viewing stand on the river’s edge where King Sihomani will sit to watch the festival’s boat races.
Nearby is another viewing stand for VIPs.
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts were mustered today to assist in the preparations.
Workmen had a fleet of water trucks and high pressure hoses to clean the sidewalks along the river.
A group of local people gaze across the Tonle Sap River toward a fleet of barges with scaffolding covered with lights that display colorful designs as the boats are paraded at night.
A large picture of King Sihomani is cleaned by a man on a tall ladder with a bottle of Windex.
The city’s population during the festival will be tripled and portable toilets have been installed to accomodate the crowds. Unfortunately they empty into the storm sewers which flow directly into the river.