Boun Hor KhaoPadapDin is an important religious occasion and Buddhists enjoy observing and preserving the tradition of making offerings to monks and other people. “Boun” means a festival or merit, “hor” means food parcels/wrap, and “khao padap din” means “rice/food”, “littering”, “the ground”.

Boun Hor KhaoPadapDin is an annual festival during which the people of Laos “feed” spirits with home-made parcels of food, reflecting their love, respect and gratitude for their deceased ancestors and guardians.

It is a day of the waning moon, which is believed to be the time when the spirits are released from the Niraya Realm (Hell), they’re free to roam at will as Preta (Hungry Ghosts). It is also recognised as the right time to feed them.
People believe that the Wardens of Hell release the spirits on this day and this happens only once a year.
When they are released, the pretas travel to Earth and search for the offerings of food that their relatives have prepared and left for them.

The spirits can only come out on this occasion, and it’s important that they are satisfied by being given food.
People believe that spirits who don’t find any food will be disappointed, hungrier, and angry. They will have to wait for food given to them by other spirits, which is impossible. Because of this, they haunt the living.

Most people wake up at 3 am or even earlier, because they believe that deceased relatives who have not returned to Earth to be born again are detained in Niraya and suffering. They also believe that some are wandering the Earth and are very hungry because they haven’t eaten for hundreds and thousands of years, and that they need help from living relatives, friends, or random act of kindness dedicated in honor of the well-departed.

Refer to The Hungry Shades Beyond the Wall Sutta regarding WHY spirits need to be donated foods by relatives.