Curry and lady boys: Thai New Year in Wembley

Songkran is a good excuse for some old-fashioned water splashing! Photo credit: Carsten

If you’re craving Thai green chicken curry or fancy seeing a lady boy show, Saturday is the day to catch the culmination of the Thai New Year celebrations in London. Known as Songkran, meaning ‘ pass or moving forward’ in Sanskrit, the new year is a three day festival celebrated all over Thailand with traditional water-throwing and, of course, some hefty partying. Needless to say, this concept is getting popular outside of Thailand, too.

Saturday 17 April, London has its fair share of the fun with all day performances and food being held at Pacific Plaza in Wembley. The day has already started with offerings to Buddhist monks from the Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon, and the afternoon will be dedicated to Thai traditional music and dancing, as well as a singing competition. Later on, there will be Thai boxing and beauty contests – not just for the ladies, but also for the lady boys. The programme ends with a disco and lasts till midnight. Throughout the day, there will be a variety of Thai food on offer.

Songkran originally conicided with the beginning of the solar year. Now it is a fixed three day celebration lasting from 13 to 15 April. According to tradition, on the second day of the Songkran, people bring cooked and preserved foods to the temples as offerings to venerate Buddha and their elders. At home, young people pour scented water into the hands of their parents and elders as a mark of respect and to receive the blessing of older folk. Another custom is the releasing of small fish into rivers and canals, which is thought to have come from the old practice of collecting small fish from dried out pools and then releasing them back into the wild. One of the most well-known and common traditions of Songkran is the throwing of water-filled balloons – so perhaps it´s advisable to bring a raincoat to Wembley.

Pacific Plaza
Engineers Way
Middlesex HA9 0EG

Don’t be put off by the postcode – Wembley is only a 15 minute tube ride away from Baker Street on the Metropolitan line.
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