Loi Krathong & Yi Peng Lantern Festival

Set all your hopes and dreams free and let all your grievances and regrets go with them…

Loi Krathong in Shanghai, 2010 by rachayuan, on Flickr

When: November full moon. November 28th 2012.
Where: Thailand.

Loi means “to float” and a Krathong is a small raft no bigger than your hand, traditionally made from banana trees and elaboratly decorated with flowers, candles and incense sticks.

On the night of the full moon of the 12th lunar month, Thai people set these small rafts afloat on nearby ponds, lakes and waterways, or even the sea, to honor and pay respect to the goddess of water and apologise for the bad things done to the river during the past year.

The act of setting the raft off is also symbolic of letting go of grudges so that life can be started afresh without anger. Sometimes people also cut their fingernails and hair and add them to the raft to symbolise letting go of their bad feelings.

During the festival there are usually large organised events too, with big illuminated rafts, raft competitions, firework displays over the water and beauty contests.

In Northern Thailand the festival co-incides with another festival called Yi Peng, a lantern festival where hundreds of sky lanterns are launched into the air and homes, gardens and temples are all decorated with paper lanterns.

Loi Krathong is held on the full moon of the 12th lunar month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November. In 2010 the festival is November 21st and in 2011 the full moon occurs on November 10th.

Detailed information can be found on the official Loi Krathong website.

For some more great pics on previous year’s events check out our Loi Krathong Flickr gallery.

Have you been to Loi Krathong or the Yi Peng Lantern Festival yourself? If so, please tell us all about it! You can share your pics and videos on our facebook page too! Or if you just want to say hi, or leave a comment for any other reason, we’d love to hear from you.

Travel to Thailand

Loi Krathong is celebrated all over Thailand but the major cities such as Bangkok, Chang Mai, Sukhothai will have the biggest celebrations etc. Check out the the official Loi Krathong website for detailed information of specific events. Book flights and hotels with ebookers.com. You may need to search for flights and hotels separately.

Dates / venues may be subject to change or cancellation. Distances may be straight-line estimates. Please verify information before booking.

From holiday reading and travel books on Thailand to binoculars and sunglasses you can find everything you need for an amazing trip on Amazon. And don’t forget the camera!

Enjoy your trip! And when you’re home we’d love you to come back and tell us all about it!

Set the sky alight with lanterns Sky lanterns are used at many Chinese and Thai festivals and they are a lovely way to light up any celebration. Watch them float up into the sky and set your hopes, dreams and regrets free. Lots of colours to choose from!