SPRING FESTIVAL May 22, 2021: Bon Chol Chhnam Thmei - Cambodian New Year Festival

In this video, produced for Spring Festival 2021, Khemarak Samaki Classical Group, Tacoma based Cambodian performance group highlights Bon Chol Chhnam Thmei, the Khmer New Year celebration. Bon Chol Chhnam Thmei marks one of Cambodia’s most important holidays.
Cambodians, including Washingtonians of Cambodian heritage, celebrate the end of harvest season in mid-April, which coincides with the solar new year. Tacoma-based Cambodian performing arts troupe Khemarak Samaki (Cambodia in Unity) Classical Group preserves Cambodian cultural arts through classical and folk dance demonstrations and theatre. The group performs a prayer dance and Thivet dance to celebrate Bon Chol Chhnam Thmei.
NOTE: Spring Festival was produced in partnership with Washington State Parks Folk & Traditional Arts Program and NorthWest Share and made possible by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Washington State Parks Foundation.