Bonn Phum: Cambodian Village Festival

Bonn Phum, the Village Festival, now in its fifth year and attracting hordes of young Cambodians, took place from April 6 – 8 2018, in the grounds of the Kok Ampil pagoda. Founded by Lomorpich Rithy with her sister Lomokesorr and a few close friends in 2014 when she was a final-year university student, the festival has been tremendous in reviving traditional Cambodian culture and re-asserting the traditional practice of celebrations in pagodas leading up to the Cambodian New Year. Every year a different location is chosen — a pagoda with suitable character — and the three-day festival is built from scratch using as much as possible natural materials like bamboo, with their team of dedicated volunteers, the “lele” Bon Phum. The festival is the embodiment of the values of its founder: a commitment to the rich artistic history of Cambodia, ecological consciousness and social responsibility, national pride without being nationalistic, and a deep appreciation for tradition. But it’s also completely a festival for today’s generations, and a three-day long amazing party and exuberant good time.

Kok Ampil pagoda is about an hour’s drive outside of the city centre, located off the new but rather desolate Hun Sen Boulevard. Driven there on one of the fleet of buses specially organized for this purpose, revelers then have to make their way to the pagoda on foot. As we disembarked in the mid-day sun a steady stream of motorbikes signaled we had arrived at the right place.
Young people streaming into the festival grounds. In keeping with the rules of the pagoda no caps or hats allowed as a mark of respect, and the festival is also strictly alcohol and smoke-free.
The volunteer workers of Bonn Phum are integral to its realization, and to counter less than positive connotations of the term ‘volunteer’, they have their own word – lele. My companion for the day, a super lele alumnus, Tyler Tola Lao, who’s been with Bonn Phum since its inception. Here he is at the main entrance to the pagoda.
Multiple stages and activity areas are found in every part of the pagoda grounds and its immediate surroundings. At this one folk singers belt out tunes that your grandma would be comfortable stepping out to, but it’s mostly 20-year olds doing the charming folk dances in a gently moving circle in front of the bamboo stage.
Pagoda entrance and festival bunting and stars welcomes you to Bonn Phum.
There’s more than one food section in the festival to accommodate the huge number of people streaming through. The emphasis is always on traditional snacks, but other vendors can be found too, hawking wares from tops made out of the iconic krama scarfs, to books.
Keeping a festival clean is always a massive under-taking. Young eco-warriors take on the responsibility manning recycle stations where they attempt to instill the practice of separating one’s trash to young Cambodians. They also roam the grounds with trash bags and tongs in hand, cleaning up as they go along.
Revelers at Bonn Phum seamlessly mix their spirituality with secular diversions. A steady queue of people take their turn at a ceremonial bathing of the Buddha, a ritual that is part of the Khmer new year traditions.
One of Lomorpich’s major inspirations has been Sbek Thom, the Cambodian art of shadow puppetry, and an integral part of Bonn Phum are the sections devoted to educating people about the(ir) traditional arts. One can just admire the craftsmanship, or hammer out a puppet of your own under the guidance of an artisan.
Young Khmers thrilled to be getting up close and personal with highly Instagrammable traditional art.
Learning the ropes of the Bokator, the oldest Khmer martial art, said to have been used by the armies even before the time of Angkor. Traditional fighting arts are making a comeback in Cambodia and are featured in the exhibition area of the festival.
Every corner of the pagoda grounds is taken over during the three days, if not for staging, then for young people to occupy and hang out at.
A prayer hall of the pagoda is appointed the festival HQ as well as ‘green room’ and place for leles and artists to rest and nap. The young dancers of Sophiline Arts Ensemble mill about, getting ready for their evening showcase.
The Bonn Phum star pops up every year in each new location, marking the official entrance of the festival within the pagoda grounds.
This year’s festival was the biggest yet with 140,000 people reported over the three days.
The indefatigable, delightful and inspiring Lomorpich Rithy, known to her friends and leles as Yoki; festival founder, producer, and instigator of a mini cultural revolution.
Wondrous tree of memories – festooned with lights, stars, and photos contributed by leles commemorating special festival moments in the previous years.
The traditional performers of Sophiline Arts Ensemble perform to an appreciative crowd with the pagoda as an evocative backdrop. Artistic Director Sophiline Cheam Shapiro opens each act with an explanation of the characters and the narrative presented through her original choreography.
Those appreciative audience members…
... watching the final concert to close off Saturday, stood on the steps of the prayer hall, just on the edge of the massive crowd, surrounded by aunties and parents with small children, as well as the hundreds of teenagers and twenty-somethings singing along and bobbing to the music – and the sweet smell of incense as every now and then someone (a lele, a member of the public) would slip by me to place joss sticks in the urn in my corner.
Bonn Phum is a place where memories are made, culture is in full effect, and fun is had, but it’s also hard work putting on an event this scale. It faces challenges of sustainability and the danger of being co-opted by unsympathetic sponsors, but as long as Yoki and her cohorts hold true to their beliefs, they’ll continue to keep their Khmer culture alive in whatever form suits them.

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About the author(s)

Sunitha Janamohanan

Sunitha Janamohanan has worked in the arts since 1999 with a portfolio that covers a range of art forms and creative industries. She has been an arts manager, curator, producer, venue manager and heritage manager in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Malaysia. She has an MA in Arts Administration from Columbia University, New York, and since 2015 has been teaching in the BA (Hons) Arts Management and MA Arts and Cultural Leadership programmes at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. Her research interests include community and socially engaged arts practice, and local arts management models in Southeast Asia.

About the author(s)

Sunitha Janamohanan

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