Sea Festival (Cambodia): Dates, Tickets & Venue (Koh Kong)

A festival that moves along the coast

Cambodia’s coastline is short. It runs from the Thai border at Koh Kong down past Sihanoukville to Kampot and Kep near Vietnam. The Sea Festival is the country’s annual showcase for that coast, and it travels.

Each edition settles in one coastal province, with Kep, Kampot and Koh Kong among the hosts. For 2026 the festival is centred in Koh Kong, from December 2 to 14. That’s nearly two weeks, which gives the event more room than a single weekend and gives you a choice of days.

The point is promotion. The festival exists to put Cambodia’s seaside destinations in front of domestic and international travellers. Expect it to frame Koh Kong as a destination, not just a border town people pass through on the way to Phnom Penh.

Koh Kong in December

December falls in Cambodia’s dry season. The monsoon rains that swell the rivers and close forest trails for half the year are generally over by then. Skies tend to be clearer and the roads easier, and the sea is calmer for boat trips.

Koh Kong town sits on the estuary of the Kah Bpow River, a short drive from the Thai border crossing at Cham Yeam. Behind it rise the Cardamom Mountains, one of the largest stretches of intact forest left in mainland Southeast Asia. In front of it, mangroves and islands fan out into the Gulf of Thailand.

That geography is why this edition matters. Kep is known for crab and Kampot for pepper. Koh Kong’s pitch is wilder: river, forest and mangrove, with Cambodia’s largest island just offshore.

Dates, venue and the question of tickets

Here is what’s known. The 2026 Sea Festival runs from December 2 to 14 and is centred in Koh Kong province. Beyond the province, our facts don’t name a specific festival ground. They also give no lineup, schedule or ticketing platform.

Cambodian coastal tourism festivals have generally been public, open-air affairs built around the host town. They are not gated concerts. Treat that as background, not a promise about this edition’s entry arrangements.

Anything finer, such as stage times or programme details, comes from the festival’s organisers and Cambodian tourism channels, not from this page. We won’t guess at it here.

Getting to Koh Kong

Koh Kong is reachable from three directions, and all three are well-trodden routes.

• From Phnom Penh: buses and minivans run the road southwest, joining National Road 48 through the Cardamom foothills. The trip takes most of a day’s travel window.
• From Sihanoukville: a shorter coastal run north, also served by buses and minivans.
• From Thailand: the Cham Yeam border crossing, opposite Hat Lek in Trat province, is a short ride from town. Many travellers arrive this way from Trat or Koh Chang.

Within town, remorks (Cambodian tuk-tuks) and motorbike taxis handle short hops. The long bridge over the Kah Bpow estuary links the town side with the road toward the border.

Peam Krasop and the mangrove coast

The festival celebrates the sea. Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary shows you where the sea meets the land here. It’s a protected mangrove forest just outside Koh Kong town, crossed by a raised boardwalk that threads through the roots above the tidal water.

The walk takes you through dense, tangled green, with a viewing tower partway along for a look over the canopy. Boats leave from the sanctuary area into the channels and out toward the islands. It’s the easiest nature trip from town and fits around a festival day without strain.

Further afield, these are the trips visitors usually combine with a Koh Kong stay:

• Koh Kong Krao: Cambodia’s largest island, reached by boat, with long beaches on its western shore.
• Tatai River: a jungle river east of town, known for its waterfall and riverside eco-lodges.
• The Cardamom foothills: forest trips and community-based stays inland from the coast.

Moving through a Koh Kong festival day

Koh Kong is a border town, and its money shows it. Cambodian riel and US dollars are both in everyday use across the country. Here Thai baht is also widely accepted, thanks to the crossing a few kilometres away. Small notes make street stalls and remork rides far smoother than large bills.

Remork drivers usually settle the fare before setting off. That’s standard practice, not rudeness. Tipping isn’t a fixed custom in Cambodia, though rounding up for good service is welcomed.

A few habits help:

• Greeting: the sampeah, palms pressed together at chest height, is the polite way to say hello or thanks.
• Pagodas: shoulders and knees covered, shoes off at the threshold.
• Food stalls: pointing works fine; aw kohn means thank you.
• Heat: even in December the midday sun is strong, so locals tend to stay in the shade then and gather outdoors in the late afternoon and evening.

With thirteen days to spread across, visitors don’t need to pile onto the opening day. Weekday visits generally leave more room in town’s guesthouses and on the boats out to the islands.

Where to base yourself

Koh Kong town is the natural base. Guesthouses and small hotels cluster near the riverfront and the main market area, within remork distance of most of the town. Visitors who want forest rather than town often stay at the eco-lodges along the Tatai River and come in for festival days.

Thirteen days is generous. Most people give the festival two or three days and spend the rest on the coast and the rivers. The festival is the reason to come, and the coast around it is the reason to stay a little longer.