The Cambodian Public Holiday for 2011
1st January 2011 | International New Year's Day |
| 7th January 2011 | Victory Day over the Genocide Regime |
| 18th February 2011 | Meaka Bochea Day |
| 8th March 2011 | International Women's Day |
| 14th-16th April 2011 | Khmer New Year Day |
| 1st May 2011 | International Labor Day |
| 13th-15th May 2011 | Birthday of His Majesty Samdech Preah Baromneath Norodom Sihamoni |
| 17th May 2011 | Visaka Bochea |
| 21st May 2011 | Royal Ploughing Ceremony |
| 1st June 2011 | International Children's Day |
| 18th June 2011 | Queen Mother's Birthday |
| 24th June 2011 | Constitution Day |
| 26th-28th September 2011 | Pchum Ben Day |
| 29th October 2011 | Coronation's Day of His Majesty Preah Baromneath Norodom Sihamoni |
| 31st October 2011 | Birthday of His Majesty King-Father Norodom Sihanouk |
| 9th November 2011 | Independence Day |
| 9th-11th November 2011 | Water Festival |
| 10th December 2011 | Human Right Day |
1. If a holiday fails on a Saturday or a Sunday, the Government allows employees to take a holiday on the following day.
2. The dates of these public holidays vary from year to year according to the lunar calendar.
18th February : This is considered to be the date of Buddha' s birth, enlightenment and death. It falls on the fullmoon day of the 6th lunar month. Many activities , proccession and ceremonies will take place in the temples. All public business offices will be closed for one day.
14-16-16th April : Cambodian New Year, The Khmer New Year Festival or Chaul Chnam (mindmonth): The New Year' s Festival spans three days following the end of the harvest season. Khmer clean and decorate their houses with altars for offering. Then we play our traditional games.
21st May : Chroat Preah Neangkal is a traditional agricultural festival which has recently been re-introduced by King Norodom Sihanouk. Two sacred oxen are harnessed to a plough. A member of the Roral Family usually takes the part of the man, King of Meakh, who ceremonially plows a furrow, followed by a woman, Queen Me Hour, who sows the seed. When the proccession stops, the oxen are released and guided to seven silver trays. The trays contain rice, corn, wheat, bean, grass and herbs; one contains water and the last alcohol. If the oxen eat the cereals, it is predicted that the harvest will be good, but if they eat the grass or herbs, it will be a bad year. If the cows drink the water, rain will be abundant, but if they drink the alcohol, trouble will break out the country.
26-27-28 September : Spirit Commemoration Day or Ceremony of the Dead: Pchum Ben, is the last day of Bon Kan Ben (offering ceremony). It is one day celebration to end the period of food offering to monks spending their rainy-season retreat. Cambodians visit wats and cemeteries to pray for departed relatives and ancestors. Throughout Cambodia, Bon Kan Ben is celebrated for two weeks. It is also called the Pchum Ben or Festival for the Dead which lasts for 15 days. Pchum Ben falls on the 15th day the fullmoon. Buddhist monks chant prayers and accept ceremonial offerings of food from the relatives of the dead. People dedicate food and good wishes to their deceased relatives, whose spirits, according to the customs practiced by most Cambodians, come back on e a year.
09-10-11 November : The Water Festival or Bon Om Touk: Held on the day of the full moon, this celebrates the reversal of the flow of the water in the Tonle Sap River (The dry season, water backed up in the Tonle Sap lake begins to empty into the Mekong. In the wet season the reverse is the case. Please enjoy the best time to experience it in front of the royal place reverside.
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