Cambodian Association of Ottawa-Valley

06/21/2026

Dear Community Members and CAOV Friends,

We are excited to invite you to our Annual CAOV Picnic, proudly hosted in partnership with Wat Bodhikaram Temple! 🛕

We understand that there are multiple events happening on July 18th, 2026. This is the ONLY day the CAOV Team could come together for a BIG community event. 🇨🇦🇰🇭

🎶: Join us for some music and fun led by our Beloved "Papa Somakom Bu Ly Mao".

Lengendary Bu Bokhara & B**g Sothy will be playing their 🎸 guitar and 🎹 organ alongside Bu Ly Mao 🙌. All singers welcome to sing along! 🎼🎵🎤

Robam by: Samnang Tep and Rumony Chhom.
We hope our amazing Chayam team will join us on this day (Chah Tom Somlanh, the President will be contacting you!).💃🕺

🍜🍔🌭🍜 Food: bring your own or buy from our vendors!

There will be a bouncy castle, water play, face painting, games, giveaways and more! 🏰🎨🎈 🍉💦

🙏: DONATIONS ARE WELCOME - ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO WAT BODHIKARAM TEMPLE TO REPAIR/PURCHASE A NEW FURNACE. The new heating system will help keep our monks and community members warm during the winter months. 💰🔥

Also, there will be NO Buddhist Ceremony performed at this event and this event is inclusive to ALL community members. 🌍

We hope to see you all there! ❤️

05/08/2026

Dear Community Members and Friends,

We would like to take the opportunity to thank two individuals: one private donor and the family of "Hoeun Nov" of the Ottawa-Valley, who generously donated an Apsara costume and Kun Khmer attire, to the .caov . This would have not been possible without the help of "Noun Phin" who went through so much trouble, was stopped at every airport and questioned by Border Services about the Apsara crown 👑 .

Thankfully, this beautiful, gorgeous, elaborate piece of history arrived safely to Ottawa. Thank you, Noun for your unwavering kindness, and thank you, Oum Hoeun for your generosity to the Khmer community.

We look forward to bringing back this beautiful dance to our little Cambodia 🇰🇭 in Ottawa 🇨🇦 .

Can't wait to see who will be performing the Apsara Dance next year!👸

04/23/2026

04/17/2026

Our Cambodian Artistic Community in the Ottawa-Valley:

1. Chakrya Tuy and Sakal Tuy learned how to teach classical dance in the years 1980-1983 in refugee camps, Thailand. They arrived to Ottawa, ON in 1984 and began teaching Khmer Classical Dance to children and youth of the Cambodian diaspora until 1993. Sakal stopped teaching in 1993 but Chakrya continued to teach until 2017. They will be costuming the Wedding Fashion Show, tomorrow!

2. Polly Pen, Sokunthea Keo, and Sovanareth Chhorn (and Sina Suos) studied the art of Cambodian Royal Ballet in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in the early 1990s to the early 2000s. They arrived to Canada in 2001 through The Games of La Francophonie, in Gatineau, Quebec and re-settled in Canada as permanent residents. Tomorrow, they will be performing the Moon Dance.

3. Samnang Tep, Mallyna Hing, and Rumony Chhom were all born and raised in Ontario, Canada.

Samnang Tep (CAOV’s Vice-President) learned how to dance and teach Khmer Classical Dance in the early 2000s, and remained teaching children and youth for more than a decade in the city of Ottawa, through the Soma Selapak Culture Association.

Rumony Chhom (U of Ottawa Civil Engineering Student) started learning Khmer Classical Dance when she just 9 years old, in Toronto, Ontario – today, she still loves this art form just as she did when she was little.

Mallyna Hing (CAOV’s Treasurer), learned how to dance Khmer Classical Dance just last year, never hearing the music or knowing the dance steps growing up, she has excelled beyond imagination practicing this discipline - we are so proud of her, watching her grow and connect with her roots.

These three beautiful souls will be performing the Wishing or Blessing Dance tomorrow evening (costuming provided to the CAOV by Soma Selepak and Rivaux Lay).

4. Savann Yim will be re-joining us tomorrow evening, for the first time in a long time to perform his signature dance “The Hanuman Dance”. Savann hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the Royal University in Cambodia. He specializes in contemporary dance and film/stage directing.

->Swipe left to see some candid photos of our Artistic Community.