It is during the Chiang Mai Lantern Festival that you will see temples, local houses and public places decorate their entrances with flowers, coconut leaves and by hanging colourful lanterns and flag decorations.Īs part of this festival of lights, there are plenty of other activities that happen all over Chiang Mai. People gather near lakes, rivers and canals to launch paper lanterns into the sky, and to float their krathongs with loved ones. It is a time to be with family and friends and to make merit. The Thai’s celebrate by going to their local temple, listening to the monks pray and offering lanterns to the monks. Although other towns and cities in northern Thailand celebrate Yee Peng, Chiang Mai is the best place to experience this truly magical festival. Traditionally, Yee Peng was celebrated as a stand-alone event to mark the end of the monsoon season and the beginning of the cool season, however, nowadays it is celebrated in tandem with Loy Krathong. What Happens During the Chiang Mai Lantern Festival? In 2023, Yee Peng will be celebrated on the 27 th November (small krathong) and the 28 th November (big krathong parade in the city). Thus, this makes this full moon the perfect time to “make merit”, or make a wish for good fortune in the New Year.Īs such, the Yee Peng Lantern Festival is held in November every year, overlapping with Loy Krathong. This is when the moon will appear at its fullest and brightest. The Chiang Mai Lantern Festival is celebrated on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month of the Thai calendar, which normally means mid-way through November. Buddhists also believe that if you make a wish when you set off the lantern, it will come true (but only if you do good deeds the following year, of course). If it crashes while still lit, you may have bad luck all year long. If your lantern disappears into the darkness before the candle burns out, it is said that you will have extremely good luck that year. The act of releasing the lantern and krathong symbolizes letting go of all ills, bad luck, mistakes and misfortunes in the previous year. Yee Peng is also a festival to worship Ket Kaew Chulumaneed, Relic of the Lord Buddha, by releasing lanterns to the heavens. This is the time in which locals believe the rivers are filled to their fullest and the moon is at its brightest the perfect time to ‘ make merit’ and set your floating krathong off on the Ping River. This festival is held to pay respect to the Goddess of Water. The “Festival of Lights” was adapted from Brahmin origins and has close ties with the ancient Lanna Kingdom. The Chiang Mai Lantern Festival, or Yee Peng Festival (sometimes written as ‘Yi Peng’) is a festival unique to northern Thailand, and is Thailand’s second most important festival after Songkran.
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