LOWELL — By mid‑afternoon on Saturday, Lowell Heritage State Park was buzzing with a dense crowd stretching along the Merrimack River.
The Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival did not always have such a massive turnout, according to former City Councilor Paul Ratha Yem, who was among the crowd.
Yem, who emigrated from Cambodia and has attended the festival every year since its debut, pointed to the sea of people moving through the park, including friends who traveled from Canada just to be there.
“The first year we started there were not many people,” Yem said. “Every year it keeps growing and growing. People keep coming.”
This year’s festival — the 29th — appeared to be one of its largest yet.
Sopheap Theam, the festival’s producer, paused briefly among her duties, to estimate the crowd at roughly 25,000 attendees, though she noted it’s difficult to pin down an exact number.
Last year, an independent analysis showed just under 20,000 unique cellphones pinged in the park during the event.
Theam noted this year more than 100 vendors lined the festival grounds, offering everything from Cambodian, Thai and Laotian dishes and desserts, along with crafts, clothing and community‑organization booths.
Performances filled the day, including the Angkor Dance Troupe, the Tepniyum Band and Tiger An’s Taekwondo demonstration team, the last which is based out of Lowell.
For Theam, the festival’s significance goes far beyond the food and entertainment.
“It reflects traditions back in Southeast Asia, so to have it in America, where we call home, it’s so unique,” she said. “You won’t see something like this in many states. Nothing of this scale.”
The festival, sponsored by the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, celebrates the cultural heritage of Cambodian, Laotian, and Thai communities — traditions rooted in centuries‑old water festivals that honor renewal, gratitude, and the life‑giving force of water across Southeast Asia, according to the festival’s website.
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