Cambodia cancels Water Festival, country's premier event, for third consecutive year

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 9 (Xinhua): Cambodia has decided to cancel the annual Water Festival, scheduled from Nov 7 to 9 in the capital Phnom Penh, according to a government's press statement.

This was the third consecutive year that the kingdom called off the premier event in Phnom Penh.

However, provincial authorities could organize boat races in their respective localities on that occasion, the statement added.

Water Festival is one of the largest festivals in the South-East Asian nation, attracting hundreds of thousands of people to the capital to enjoy a regatta along a stretch of the Tonle Sap River in front of the Royal Palace.

Cambodia reported a daily record of seven new local Covid-19 cases on Friday, bringing the national case tally to 137,696, with 134,557 recoveries and 3,056 deaths, the health ministry said, adding that no new deaths have been reported since April. - Xinhua