The New Year in Laos is celebrated between 14 and 16 April, although the fun generally begins on New Year’s Eve, the 13, and is known to Laotian people as Pi Mai Lao. The deputy-mayor says the statues will be erected in time for the general public to marvel at between 13 and 19 April.
The sculptures are being erected on a 20,000-metre² plot of beach known to locals as Don Chan Island which is across from Chao Anouvong Park. Mr Keodouangdee says the sand on the island is top-quality and ideally suited to create sand statues.
He noted that private firms and individuals had provided the funding to build the statues. The deputy-mayor continued by saying the sand was being compressed to ensure the statues had a longevity that would outlast Pi Mai Lao and they would be a lasting epitaph for some time to come.
The white elephant sand statues are set to be up to six metres high. Laos was once known as Lan Xang, or Land of a Million Elephants. Although the country’s current pachyderm population is nowhere near this figure, elephants remain one of its unifying national symbols.
Vientiane to build sand statues for Lao New Year
News in Asia
The deputy-mayor of Vientiane has announced local artisans will be building sand statues to mark next week’s New Year festivities. Saythong Keodouangdee says statues representing white elephants and other Southeast Asian symbols will be erected on the city’s Mekong riverside beach.