Our organisation had the dream to create an annual festival dedicated entirely to the Asian elephant. The Elephant Festival was designed to draw the public’s attention to the endangered status of the elephant, while acknowledging and celebrating the ancestral tradition of elephant domestication and the mahout way of life.
The festival’s schedule of events showcases the lifestyle of mahouts, as well as giving everyone the opportunity to discover or rediscover the animal emblem of Laos. Every year the festival holds magnificent elephant processions, exhibitions and working elephant displays. Perhaps the most striking events are the traditional elephant religious ceremonies, based on cultural practices and knowledge dating back centuries. This is truly the meeting place for all admirers of the sacred emblem of the “land of a million elephants”.
The local and international publicity received by our elephant festivals have enhanced public awareness of the desperate situation facing the Asian elephants of Laos. The festival contributes to our educational campaigns for the local and global community, and is compatible with our ethos of promoting alternative tourism for elephants currently exploited in the logging industry. The cultural, media and economic outcomes of the festival make it possible for ElefantAsia to promote the need for better species conservation on a national and international scale.
The first Elephant Festival was held in the Sayaboury Province and attracted more than 10,000 people in celebration of this endangered national treasure. Indeed, in spite of the threats facing the elephant populations of Laos, the Sayaboury Province in north-west Laos continues the ancient tradition of elephant domestication. In 2008 over 50,000 people crowded to attend the festival, evidence of the resurgence in awareness and support of this incredible Lao culture that links man and elephant.
Visit the 2010 Elephant Festival official website
Elephant Festival 2008
Photos from the Elephant Festival
Scenes of the Elephant Festival 2007 by Animal Planet
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