The Festival of Lights
Every year in November, during the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, one of the world’s most spectacular festivals is held in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.
This is when the Loy Krathong and Yee Peng Festival, the “Festival of Lights”, takes place.
The exact dates vary from year to year but the festival is almost always held in November.
We arrived in Chiang Mai on November 20th and the main event this year, 2018, was between November 21st-23rd.
Three main days
The first day is the opening of the festival, there will be a dance ceremony and lighting of candles at the Three Kings Monument in the Old City.
The second day is the main evening and the day when most people release their sky lanterns and put floating offerings named Krathongs into the river.
This is the day when those photos that you have seen on Instagram länk are taken, and which probably was the reason you booked your Chiang Mai trip in the first place. So if you are looking for that magic photo op in the middle of thousands of lanterns, this is the day to make plans for.
The third and final day is the day of the Loy Krathong street parade and an evening fireworks show in honor of the King of Thailand.
Of course, there will be a lot of other festivities and events going on during these three days. We found it a bit hard to know exactly what was going on each day but this will at least give you a basic idea of the festival calendar.
Dinner out
As our flight arrived rather late in the afternoon we decided just to take a short walk from our hotel, down to one of nearby restaurants by the river.
Everybody was tired from travelling and I said to myself – “Keep it simple, save the energy, and tomorrow we can go full speed again when we all are well rested.”
I wish it could be that simple, because this is a part that we (or I) might need to improve slightly.
I do not know how we do it, but in some mysterious way it always takes one hour extra to find a good restaurant. And by then everyone is starving, exhausted and frustrated. Not the ideal combo.
First we had troubles finding a good restaurant.
On one side of the river there was only a lot of food stalls, and on the other one there was a variety of restaurants that probably had nice river views. But they all felt too posh and expensive.
Like bulls in a China shop
The children (and adults for that matter) started to get a bit too hungry so we decided to take the next best restaurant that we came across.
It did not take long before we saw one on the other side of the road. The sign outside stated “Bakery, Art, Food” so it looked promising enough.
When we got inside most of the tables were already taken and we were assigned to a table that was not a table but a sofa, and therefore had no chairs. (Who seats guests in a sofa to eat in the first place?)
That combined with the fact that the food was crazy expensive, and the kids could not move an inch without destroying some valuable art or other fancy décor, made us think twice and leave.
So instead of going straight to a restaurant, which was our initial plan, we ended up walking for an hour and a half, completely off track.
Happy ending
Finally we had to let go of the pride and asked a random couple that we met on the street if they had any clue where a tired family should go to get some decent food.
It turned out that there was an international food market just close to where we were. And the couple kindly pointed us in the right direction.
Bad just got good and the highlight of the evening was a fact.
The Chiang Mai International Food Market was exactly the kind of place we like the most. It was organized, had live music, loads of different street food and most importantly – a good portion of that special travel vibe.
If you want to hang out with other travelers, this is the place to go.
Not one, but two
The Loy Krathong and Yee Peng festival is actually not one festival but two separate ones. They are just celebrated simultaneously.
Loy Krathong is a celebration to the goddess of the river called Pra Mae Khongkha.
By putting a “Krathong”, a floating handmade floral offering, in the river, you show gratitude for the water, ask for forgiveness for the pollution we humans have caused, and for good luck for the future.
This might seem as somewhat of a double standard as quite a few of the krathongs that are sold are made of non-decomposable materials, like Styrofoam.
Luckily, the majority of the krathongs are made of banana leaves/stalks or bread. So they are either biodegradable or get eaten by the fish of the river.
But a krathong made of Styrofoam will take years before it disintegrates. Not very environmentally friendly to say the least…
Why lanterns?
The Yee Peng Lantern Festival is what the names states, a festival where thousands and thousands of sky lanterns (Khom loy) are sent up into the sky all around Chiang Mai.
This is done to mark the end of the monsoon season and to symbolize sending away bad luck and misfortune from the previous year.
You are supposed to make a wish when you release your lantern up in the sky. And if you manage to keep your eyes on the lantern until it completely disappears from sight it is particularly fortunate as this increases the chance of your wish coming true.
We forgot to make a wish as we were so busy just getting the lantern into the air safely. And of course there were so many lanterns in the sky so we soon lost track of ours.
I tried to retroactively wish that my hockey bet later that night would be a win. Sadly it seems like the lanterns do not work that way.
The wish apparently must be made live and losing sight of the lantern most likely did not help either.
Mass release
Do a web search on the words “Chiang Mai festival”. The first photos that pops up are filled with a zillion beautiful lanterns that are launched up in the dark night sky.
If you, like us, immediately start dreaming and planning your next trip to Chiang Mai there is one thing that you might want to know.
First of all, these mass releases of sky lanterns are not held in the city center of Chiang Mai, but quite far outside town. Neither are they free for anyone to attend.
This does not have to be a negative thing though. Not at all.
The effect when everyone lets go of their lanterns simultaneously is spectacular.
The mass releases are actually payed venues where hordes of tourists gather to simultaneously release the lanterns into the air.
But for us it was just not worth the trouble of getting out to the release locations as it had required a bit too much logistical planning.
And the money you have to pay to participate (around 100-300 USD/person) is way way overpriced in my opinion.
The views from the bridges along the east side of the city center were altogether amazing.
So if you decide to stay in central Chiang Mai, instead of heading out to one of the mass release spots, you will not be dissapointed.
It is going to be a magical night!
Take a walk
One thing to think about during the festival is that the main streets are absolutely packed with cars and motorbikes from the moment the sun goes down.
You will almost certainly be stuck in a traffic jam if you choose to go by car or tuk-tuk so opt on taking a walk during these days as the main events are not that far from each other.
If you are close to Tha Pae Gate during the last evening to watch the parade, wait until the last part of the parade passes. Then the main street, Thapae Road, will still be closed to traffic.
Pedestrians are allowed which means you will have a nice car/tuk-tuk/motorbike-free walk all the way down to the Ping River. Enjoy the peacuful moment of tranquility from the ongoing chaos all around.
Four gates
There are four gates where you can enter the Chiang Mai Old City. The Tha Pae Gate is the main gate.
Many of the special celebrations during Yee Peng takes place here and it gets very crowded during these moments.
Other points of interest where different festival events are being held are the Three Kings Monument, the Wat Phan Tao temple and the Municipal Office.
Where to stand
You probably want to send away your own sky lanterns or krathongs. A perfect place to do so is somewhere between the Nawarat Bridge and the Iron Bridge.
We preferred the Chansom Memorial Footbridge, that connects the Wat Ket Area to the Kad Luang area.
Every night during the main event there were loads of people here releasing sky lanterns from the bridge. Most krathongs were put into the Ping river on the bridges east side walkway.
Take it easy
Two small warnings though if you travel with kids:
There will be some people with Roman candle “sticks” that shoot of firework bangers. Pretty loud and pretty dangerous as the people holding them sometimes seem to forget where they are aiming.
A lot to take in
And, if you have kids and plan on taking a stroller across the bridge during the rush hour between 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. Be prepared to meet a human wall.
For us it was definitely worth the struggle of bringing the trolley though, as the festival meant long walks and late evenings. The kids got pretty exhausted by all the impressions and sounds, so having a place to rest from time to time was virtually essential.
Chansom Memorial Bridge
The Chansom Memorial Bridge is as already mentioned an excellent spot to get some beautiful sky lantern photos. So do not forget to bring your camera, or smartphone.
(We actually realized that my father’s fairly new Samsung S8 phone actually took better night photos than my Canon DSLR, which was pretty cool.)
Do not feel stressed out if you do not know when the sky lanterns will be released. A steady stream of lanterns are being sent up in the air all night long during the second day, starting as soon as it gets dark.
Wat Phan Tao
The Wat Phan Tao temple – this is where you will be able to witness the ceremony were young monks from the temple pray under a tree full of lanterns.
You might have seen photos of it before, as it is truly a beautiful event.
And to be able to get a “seat on the first row”, you have to be there at least two hours before the ceremony starts. (It starts around 7 p.m.)
But be aware, you will not be there alone. Hundreds of tourists, all equipped with high-end cameras with tripods or smartphones on selfie-sticks will be there to join you.
Poppers
Leo has reached the age where fireworks are among the most captivating things there is.
He went on and on about wanting some the whole day. So we finally gave in and got him some relatively safe sparklers and small firecrackers.
The firecrackers were actually very child friendly, about the size of a pea.
They are known as “Poppers” or something similar, and when you throw them on the ground they go “pop”, kind of.
It kept him occupied for a good half an hour or so, so it was well worth the money. 😊
Riverside dining
As mentioned earlier, there are some really nice restaurants along the river.
On one of the main event evenings we tried to find a riverside restaurant from were you could see the krathongs and all the lanterns in the sky.
Had we made any reservations? Of course not, why would we? It was only the most popular evening of the year…
That’s us I guess. But we thought we would give it a try anyway.
Shamelessly expensive
One particular restaurant looked promising, so we asked if they had any free tables.
“We got only one table left. You are very lucky!” , the woman in the entrance told us. This was no luxury restaurant by any means so that sounded great.
“But, we only have a fixed menu today” the lady continued. “You have to choose this four-person dish” and she showed us a picture of a very ordinary chicken/beef dish with some equally ordinary sides.
“It is a special night tonight, so the price is 4,000 baht”.
Say what!?
Well, it might be a special night, but that special it will never be. (Ok sure, serve me some Kobe beef and a bottle of 1945 Chateau Latour and I´m all in.)
But this, this was something else, and it was not going to happen.
Instead we walked for another 45 minutes before we, tired as hell, finally found an Italian restaurant tucked away on a side street.
Normal prices and good food, even though it was on a special day. Grazie, much appreciated…
Lessons learned
If you want to go to such a popular event as the Festival of lights, make sure to make your reservations early.
The best airline tickets, hotels, special restaurants and lantern mass release events get booked up fast. So plan accordingly.
Hotel prices were nothing like Valencia during Las Fallas though, but still expensive enough.
How to dress
Make sure to cover your shoulders, knees and chests if you want to visit one of the temples.
If you forget to put on appropriate clothing there are usually sarongs and/or trousers that you can borrow at the temple entrances.
General costs
You will not have to think about buying any lanterns or krathongs in advance. There will be an abundance of vendors selling them on the streets during the festival.
The cost of a krathong is somewhere between 25-75 baht depending on the size and ornamentation. The sky lanterns usually come in two sizes and costs between 50-100 baht.
For the young ones, that might have different interests than krathongs and lanterns, there will be street vendors in every corner selling all kinds of cheap blinking toys.
Taking a taxi, tuk-tuk or songthaew in Chiang Mai is cheap.
From the Old City to our hotel, a 10-15-minute ride, we paid no more than 100 baht. From the airport to the city center, expect to pay around 250-300 baht.
