Central Florida has the biggest celebrations happening every year at Wat Navaram, a Lao Buddhist temple in Sanford, Florida. Lao New year is a spiritual event where Lao people and all types of people across the globe will gather and commence the New Year. There will be live music, a lot of dancing, a lot of food (of course!), a water festival, alms giving at the temple, and even a beauty pageant!
One of the biggest events happening at the Lao New year is the food festival. There will be lots food vendors opening up stalls along the temple grounds. This is the ultimate place to go for real Papaya Salad.
Once you arrive at the festival, let your noses be your guide! It will lead you to many foods that you’ve never tasted before. Don’t be scared or shy! Try Lao sausages fresh off the grill. Lao sausage is made with lots of herbs and spices. One of the distinctive herbs is the lemon grass. When you bite into a delicious Lao sausage, your mouth will explode! You’ll taste the lemon grass, peppers, and all kinds of delicious goodness. Whatever items you order, always make sure to have sticky rice to go with it.
After eating Lao sausage, you might want to try the fried beef balls on a stick. This is delicious snack where you can hold in hand while scavenging for other delicious dishes to eat. The beef balls are fried and put on a stick served with sweet chili sauce.
While you’re there, have some papaya salad and grilled chicken with sticky rice. This lunch combination is a traditional favorite in Laos. Papaya salad is made up of fermented fish sauce, traditional fish sauce, shrimp paste, tomatoes, sugar, garlic, lots of chili peppers and lots of lime juice and shredded green papaya. The grilled chicken is usually seasoned with Lao spices and lemon grass. The papaya salad is made to order. You may ask for it to be more tangy than spicy or however you like.
On top of these delicious meat dishes, there are lots of vegetable dishes as well and also fresh ingredients and produce that you can buy to take home. They have desserts and appetizers to try as well. If you get thirsty, there are drink stalls to quench your thirst. You might want to try some coconut water, iced coffee, Thai-tea.
The festival will take place at 2381 Narcissus Rd, Sanford, Florida on April 21 to April 22. You may also want to bring an extra change of clothes because there will be a water festival. This is when water will be poured on each other as a way of cleansing out the old and in with the new.
