Yi Peng festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand
We decided to stay a bit longer in Chiang Mai to see the Yi Peng / Loi Krathong festival, the festival of lights.
The picture below is a 360 photo, click and drag to look around, scroll to zoom!
Yi Peng is a festival specific to northern Thailand and is celebrated on a full moon. The entire city is lit up with colorful lanterns hanging everywhere. Relatively recently (only since the 21st century) the locals have started to launch flying lanterns. It’s getting so popular that the airport nearby has to cancel several flights each year, and it’s hard to find a cheap hostel during the festival.
The picture below is a 360 photo, click and drag to look around, scroll to zoom!
The picture below is a 360 photo, click and drag to look around, scroll to zoom!
Loi Krathong is a Siamese festival celebrated everywhere in Thailand, and it accidentally coincides with Yi Peng. People float little boats with candles on the river.
The picture below is a 360 photo, click and drag to look around, scroll to zoom!
We didn’t partake in the tradition, since we found the whole thing a little wasteful. In Bangkok in 2016 the city cleaned up around 6 tons of garbage from the rivers. Most of the boats are biodegradable, but the lanterns use metal wires and can end up just about anywhere.
The picture below is a 360 photo, click and drag to look around, scroll to zoom!
It’s a beautiful thing though, that’s for sure.