More fun for all at the coming 3rd Elephant Festival

(KPL) ElephantAsia, the National Tourism Administration of Laos, and Sayaboury province are organizing the 3rd Elephant Festival in Sayaboury district on 14-15 February 2009.
A sideshow of the festival is a market fair that will commence on 10 February. 
The festival will be opened in a ceremony held at the Provincial Stadium of this northwestern province. The festivities will include a cultural procession, a wishing ceremony �Baci� for elephants, selection of the elephant of the year, an elephant show, Valentine�s Day offer of fruits and flowers to elephants, official opening of the festival�s fun fair, a drawing contest, an ambulatory show from France, a circus performance by the Vientiane circus troupe, a workshop on elephants, a film show on elephants, a fireworks show and a traditional dance and concert. The last day of the festival will see an elephant procession, which elephants will receive blessings from Buddhist monks and be treated to a special elephant buffet made up of fruits and shoots of plants.
The last two elephant festivals proved to be runaway successes. The first one in Hongsa in 2007 attracted 10,000 visitors and the second one in Paklai, the following year, attracted 50,000 visitors. 
Several high-ranking officials participated in the past two festivals� opening ceremonies, Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism, Minister of Culture and foreign ambassadors. 
This kind of festival attracted as many as 40 journalists and film people so that it enjoyed a wide coverage in the international media. 
The print people came from such high profile print organizations as New York Times, Newsweek, Liberation, Associated Press and Yahoo News. 
Promotional materials on this festival are being disseminated in major popular tourist spots in Laos (Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Sayaboury, Bokeo, and Pakse) in Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Loei) and on Lao Airlines planes.