The regatta of the Water Festival in Phnom Penh, known locally as Bon Om Touk, is the highlight of Cambodia’s most popular celebration, drawing millions each year. This event features hundreds of vividly decorated long boats, each with dozens of rowers competing before the Royal Palace on the Tonlé Sap and Mekong rivers (the place is known as Chatkomuk), accompanied by illuminated processions and fireworks late into the night. In the 1962 Albert Camus’ film L’Oiseau de paradis, scenes often feature traditional Cambodian festivities, with famed dancer Princess Norodom Buppha Devi, and glimpses of the riverside—images evoking the magic of the festival. For a modern twist, imagine these vibrant celebrations soundtracked by classic Cambodian rock, whose energetic beats and raw emotion would layer perfectly with the regatta’s excitement, as in the extract below, found on Youtube.
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