Chiang Mai has always been a major tourist destination. It’s the largest city in northern Thailand but still retains its small town feel and hosts a plethora of friendly locals, ancient temples and a beautiful countryside.
When it’s time for one of their vibrant festivals, tourists flock to the city en masse. One of the biggest festivals is the annual Light Festival. The Light Festival technically consists of two separate festivals: Loi Krathong and Yi Peng. These festivals are celebrated concurrently in the north and reaches as far south as Bangkok, but the largest celebration is in the regional crown city of Chiang Mai.
You’ve probably seen wondrous videos like this or have your own image conjured up from movies like Tangled that got its inspiration for the sky lantern scene from events like this Light Festival. While the Light Festival is certainly a beautiful and fun sight, I’d like to immediately clarify one thing:.
It’s not a quiet, romantic or serene night.
Chiang Mai is already a busy enough city, but the entire town is out on the street and with it all the accompanying noise and of course, all the light pollution from the city itself. This isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy the festival, I actually loved every moment of it. But it was far off of my expectations due to my romanticized view of the whole event. For those seeking a quieter setting, I’d look slightly south to the smaller town of Sukhothai.
Its hard to even take a decent picture due to all the lights
Wait, what exactly is Loi Krathong and Yi Peng?
Loi Krathong more or less translates to “float boat”. Loi Krathong has something to do with paying respect to the water goddess and thanking her for the use of water. Respect to the goddess is paid by floating river boats (usually with your significant other) made of banana leaves, flowers and a candle.
Yi Peng refers to the second full moon day in the Lanna Calendar or in our calendar, November. This celebration is the famous one where all the sky lanterns are lit to symbolize the release of ills and misfortunes.
This means that during the Light Festival, you’ll see hundreds of people release sky lanterns and loi krathongs into the night sky or river respectively (though some poorly lit sky lanterns land in the river). Admittedly, the sky lanterns are the real spectacle for the Light Festival and steal the show.
Personally, I think the festivals should be split into different events. Think of how much everyone hates joint birthday parties. How are you going to appease the water goddess by tacking her festival on with Yi Ping? She’s supposed to be the water goddess, and now Yi Ping has taken all your attention with those darn sky lanterns.
Where to go in Chiang Mai
These festivals will span across three days, with the central day holding the bulk of the festivities. Since the festival is based on the lunar calendar, the Light Festival’s date will vary each year so double check before heading to Chiang Mai and finding yourself with a lantern-less sky.
The first day of the festivities will contain opening ceremonies, sermons and other performances. I’m sure these may be worthwhile for some people, but I honestly found them to be a bit mundane. Many of the locals seem to spend this time with their families and few turn out for the non-religious events.
This opening ceremony wasn’t that exciting. And I felt bad for the girls, they were wincing as wax dripped onto their hands
You’ll also notice the some flying lanterns around town and along the waterfront. Traditionally and lawfully, you’re not supposed to be releasing the lanterns on this day not that it stops many tourists (and some locals). The night life does begin this evening as street vendors come out in droves, students prepare massive fundraiser activities and alcohol begins to flow.
The Full Moon
The bulk of the celebrations are on the full moon day itself. The Light Festival is primarily an evening one with few things going on during the day like sermons which are attended mostly by locals and a few minor shows. Every year the government designates a certain area to release the lantern and in recent times it has consistently been the Nawarat Bridge on the east side of town. Arrive in the area around 7:00 P.M when the last light fades and the festival becomes alive.
Everything that was already going on during the first night grows, has been grown twofold for the main event. You’ll find the festival to be loud, jubilant and a little hectic. The Narawat Bridge will be packed with people letting off lanterns every minute or so. There are enough lanterns lit on this evening that flights are cancelled or moved to the next day.
The surrounding streets will also be filled to the brim, even with people letting off lanterns there, though they’re not supposed to. It’s an upbeat celebration and it’s easy to join in the fun. Get a good group of people together, let off a few lanterns (or loi krathong with your significant other) and grab some scrumptious street food. Then retire to a nearby bar to enjoy some libations as you watch the merriment of the festivities and the lanterns in the night sky. It’s truly an upbeat and beautiful festival.
Organized pandemonium
Since people are releasing the lanterns throughout the night, you won’t ever get the picturesque scene of hundreds of lanterns floating away at once but rather a smattering of lanterns throughout the whole night. That singular breathtaking moment you often see is organized by a private organization on private grounds. For $100, you’ll get a shuttle to the event grounds, a couple lanterns, a Loi Krathong, some food and prime seating for the big lantern release.
For the most part, this is an outrageous cost to release lanterns for a less authentic experience, especially when you consider that lanterns cost 40 baht ($1.20) a piece.
The Last Day
If you haven’t had your cultural fill, there’s a parade on the last evening that starts from the eastern and historical Thapae Gate and goes to the riverfront. The parade is entertaining enough but felt drawn out due to organizational issues. It seems that each float or troop would pass by every 15 minutes leaving long, awkward gaps in-between. I’d recommend going, but there’s no shame in leaving early.
‘Murica float
Words of Wisdom
Not to be the worry wort, but the mixing of alcohol and fire with the exclusion of common sense made for some humorous but dangerous sights. There are a lot of people lighting lanterns that evening who have never done so before. This leads to a few common errors:
1. Sometimes people try to light a lantern by themselves as their friends/partner watches. These lanterns are big, so they have a giant flammable wick. The wick takes a while to catch fire and the difficulty of prepping these lanterns by one person will often lead to this:
You may laugh, but this wasn’t an uncommon sight
2. If people successfully light the wick, they sometimes don’t allow enough hot air to fill the lantern prior to releasing it. This will result in lanterns dropping or flying horizontal. There were many lanterns that nearly flew into the faces of other people on Narawat Bridge so I’d be attentive.
3. I didn’t think I needed to say this, but look up. Too many people decided to light their lanterns under power lines or trees. And think of where the wind is blowing. Standing five feet away from the foot of a tree isn’t going to help if you’re upwind.
If you look carefully, you casn see not one, or two, but three lanterns stuck in the tree! The tree did not catch fire fortunately.
And of course you may want to consider the potential impacts of releasing your own lantern. If you were wondering if there are fires started from these sky lanterns… yep. Fires reported every year in town and sometimes in the country. In addition, the government also has to organize cleanup teams to clean up the debris from the sky lanterns but I imagine many are still out in the wilderness somewhere.
The loy krathongs are supposed to be biodegradable but many aren’t so the ones that aren’t picked up can cause some ecological problems.
At the end of the day it’s a large festival, and your level of participation is up to you.
Now get out there and enjoy some lights!
Stray Observations
- Songthaews in Chiang Mai are supposed to be 30 baht a trip around town and they’ll pick up other clients along the way. This is the one time you can tell the driver the destination without haggling over the price.
- If you’re at a truly local food joint, the food is pretty spicy. Like boiling lava hot spicy.
- Not all ladies are ladies. It can be surprisingly hard to tell.
- Actual massage parlors do not have scantily clad women outside calling you a ‘handsome man’
- Thai whiskey costs 100 baht ($3) a bottle and leaves you with a hangover you’d expect for 100 baht a bottle.
- Beware the advertisement trucks with billboards and speakers mounted on the back. Their advertisements are most effective during the early morning when you’re comfortably sleeping.
Until next time.