Thailand Lantern Festival: A Full Guide to the Yi Peng Celebration
Thailand is famous for its lantern festivals, and the most renowned, Yi Peng, takes place in the North near Chiang Mai. We were in the area after exploring the Pai Valley so stopping to witness the festival made perfect sense. The videos and pictures online do not do this event justice, it’s one of the most breathtaking cultural celebrations in the world and honestly the thousands of lanterns floating off into the night sky is one of the most incredible sights I’ve ever seen.
While I would recommend Yi Peng to absolutely anyone there are some things I wish I knew beforehand. By the end of this article you’ll learn more about this Thailand Lantern Festival, how to responsibly be apart of it, and have my tips so that you can make it the best experience possible and feel like you’re in a Disney movie yourself.
Table of Contents
What is the Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival?
The Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival is a celebration in Northern Thailand that marks the full moon of the 2nd month in the Lanna calendar or the full moon of the 12th month in the Thai lunar calendar. Northern Thailand followed its own local calendar and religious observances until the country unified and adopted the Central Thai lunar calendar as the official reference. Two different counting systems but it’s the same celebration that ends up being sometime in November. People call the lanterns Khom Loi and make them from rice paper stretched over a bamboo frame. They light the wick at the bottom, and the heated air lifts the lanterns into the sky.
People release lanterns into the sky to symbolize letting go of your bad luck and misfortune, while wishing for good luck and fortune in the coming year. Many people now write their hopes, dreams, and prayers on the lanterns, a modern habit that has developed over time. Traditionally people would simply say the prayer, a form of meditation in a way.
Pro tip: Hold the lantern until they are full of hot air, you’ll be able to feel when it’s ready to fly. If you don’t it’ll be hot enough not to drop to the ground but cool enough that it won’t float away so it just shoots sideways. It sounds like common sense but I watched plenty of people get wrapped up in burning rice paper.
Where is the Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival?
Communities across Northern Thailand celebrate the Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival, primarily Chang Mai but other cites such as Lamphun and Chiang Rai have smaller events too. Inside Chiang Mai lanterns and lights cover Tha Phae Gate Plaza & Tha Phae Road, the most extravagant parade you’ll ever see begins here as well. The city of Chiang Mai has an abundance of beautiful displays and events to celebrate Yi Peng yet they don’t actually release the lanterns there, Authorities do not allow lantern releases within city limits.
In previous years, people held ‘free mass lantern releases,’ most notably at Doi Saket Lake. As tourism and social-media interest surged, the events grew too large to manage safely, so officials stopped officially sanctioning them. There may still be some unofficial free mass release out there but I can’t speak to it as I have never experienced it. This post covers the Chiang Mai CAD Khomloy Sky Lantern Festival. In my opinion, paying for the event ensures the celebration runs responsibly.
How to Participate in the Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival?
As mentioned there are plenty of free activities during the Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival that don’t include releasing lanterns, however if the lanterns are on your bucket list (like they were on mine) then the Chiang Mai Khomloy Sky Lantern Festival is the way to go. Other ticketed mass lantern releases exist, but this one stands out as the largest, drawing 3,500 people each night. Tickets can also be found easily on Viator and GetYourGuide
Buy Tickets and Accommodation Early
The official mass releases require tickets, Buying tickets helps organizers control crowds and prioritize safety. As these events are getting more popular with social media, tickets often sell out months in advance, so I recommend getting them as early as possible. I used Viator and to this day have not had an issue with it. I would recommend it to anyone. Don’t forget about accommodation either, it gets hard to find a place to stay in Chiang Mai during Yi Peng. Have something booked through a reputable source such as Hostelworld as early as possible and secure your spot. We heard stories from others who waited too long to book and ended up scrambling to find a couch to sleep on anywhere in Chiang Mai, since everything was fully booked. Their next move would have been the bus station floor.
Respect The Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival Traditions
The Yi Peng Thailand Lantern festival along with the other ticketed events are a celebration of Northern Thai culture, while Yi Peng has become more “touristy” than some of the others found here, the traditions experienced and social norms are all the same. Dress more conservatively for these events. The festival forbids alcohol, smoking, and drones. Essentially follow all the same rules you would at any Thai Temple.
What Should You Expect at The Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival?
The Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival truly is like nothing else, it will stay with you for life. For me, it became a core memory not only for the breathtaking beauty of the ceremony but the absolute mayhem that came with it. The perfect movie moment wrapped in chaos. I honestly loved the experience and would happily go again in a heartbeat, however there are some things I wish I knew before hand. Maybe I was simply unlucky and it was an off year for the event, but if I can save one person from the negatives I experienced I’ll consider that a win.
Getting to the Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival and Tip #1
Although it sounds simple on paper, reaching the Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival proved trickier than expected. After buying your ticket, you meet at a designated location, and a shuttle takes you directly to the CAD Cultural Center Lanna. My advice? Get there early! Thousands of people release the floating lanterns. We arrived at the huge parking lot pickup point, but no shuttle vans were waiting, just a sea of people.
We made our way in and it wasn’t going well—confusion, lines that don’t go anywhere, people getting frustrated—eventually we found a tent that told us to get in line for a shuttle. Perfect not that hard, except when we got to the shuttle line the worker there said we need to line up at a different tent and get a transportation sticker before we could join the shuttle line (Thankfully we didn’t wait too long before someone said something) So we walked over and waited in the transportation sticker line, spirits still high despite the disorganization. We waited in line for a long time with hundreds of people around us which brings up my second tip, bring water.
Tip #2 Hydrate
Picture yourself standing almost shoulder to shoulder with 100s of people, (some with higher tensions then others) in the middle of a parking lot, in the blazing Thai heat. With a little wind it would have been an air fryer, I would hear later on that some people even passed out waiting in the lines. Bring water, staff might make you dump it out at the gates but I’d rather pay 30 Baht ($0.90 USD) than get heat stroke.
We finally got to the front of the transportation sticker line and after showing them our tickets they put a sticker of a red shuttle on the back of my phone. With my sticker in hand we could now wait in the shuttle line, seems like an obsolete step to me but hey I don’t make the rules. Red shuttles—essentially pickup trucks with benches and a roof in the back—serve as the normal transportation in Chiang Mai and are called Songthaews. They hold about 10 adults comfortably but often squeeze more.
As we got towards the front of the line we could see the Songthaews consistently come and pick up 10-12 people at time, a team of Thai workers guided the Songthaews and helped load up passengers. I causally starting talking to a worker while waiting in line, suddenly she told Faye, me and the 10 people around me to jump into the nearest Songthaew even though we weren’t near the front. Before I could react, the people around me ran to the shuttle. Not wanting to get left behind, Faye and I sprinted after them.
Tip #3 and What Got us on The Road
Picture yourself battling the heat and the lines, finally reaching the front and preparing to leave—when the shuttle you’re supposed to board speeds past, packed with people waving at you. Ruthless I know, but I was just glad to get out of the crowd and it wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t stop and talk to the worker. My third tip which can and should be used anywhere anyway is be human. Yes it could have been organized better, but that is no workers fault and getting frustrated doesn’t help anyone.
Arrive early, bring water, and be friendly. The ride to the CAD Cultural Center Lanna was just over an hour with all the traffic. Staring out into the Thai countryside as the setting sun disappeared behind the mountains I briefly thought about how “Dog eat Dog” that experience was. The thought didn’t last long though, soon replaced with excitement and wonder on what I was about to experience. Little did I know that “Dog eat Dog” thought would come kick me in the teeth later.
Entering and Experiencing The Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival
After a long drive and in the dark evening we arrived at the CAD Cultural Center Lanna. Bright, colorful lanterns decorated the grounds, recreating a Northern Thai experience. My next tip ties into tip #1, get there early and experience everything! While the lanterns attract many visitors, you can also watch artisans create traditional crafts, sample local Northern Thai food, and light candles and incense to honor Buddha. The Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival has many different ways to immerse yourself with Thai culture, you’re already there I recommend experiencing it all.
Once the ceremony begins you’ll witness traditional Lanna dancing and music, as well as monks chanting and praying. Monks conduct the religious ceremony before releasing the lanterns. After they finish the prayers, people light the candles, and the lanterns begin to soar into the sky. Not too many tips here it’s pretty obvious what to do, experience new things and take it all in. I said it before but you’ll truly never forget the sight, one of the most beautiful events I’ve ever witnessed
Leaving the Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival
Look I get it. You’re staring up at the night sky watching a blanket of lanterns float away, there’s fireworks and music to accompany them, The Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival feels like a Disney movie and you never want the moment to end. Take it all in, enjoy it, savior it, who knows when or if you will experience this again. However this leads me to my last and by far most important tip, when you are ready…get the f@#k out of there.
Seriously, run to where the shuttles dropped you off, get on one, and hope you stay on it.
"Sorry, Booked"
Faye and me were not even close to the last people to leave. We stayed longer, enjoyed the moment as mentioned. When we got ready, we started casually walking to the pickup spot—and to our surprise, more than half of the Songthaews had already left. Not a huge deal, still plenty left and I still had the sticker on the back of my phone. We walked up to one shuttle, and before we could climb in, someone told us it was ‘booked.’ I didn’t know how that was even possible, but instead of arguing, I decided we’d just catch the next one. Over the next 30 minutes we tried to catch every Songthaew we could see, all were visibly full or not full but “booked” didn’t matter that I showed people the sticker, it was now useless.
Time was ticking and there were less and less Songthaew waiting, we met a group of people just as frantic as we were trying to find a ride. Total we had around 12 people, the perfect amount for a Songthaew. With this number our group confidently approached an empty Songthaew, asked the driver if it was available and it was, we instantly jumped in and started rolling toward Chiang Mai. I could almost feel the truck get lighter after everyone released that sigh of relief. We sat in a long line of Songthaews waiting to leave the grounds. While talking to the strangers we had just met, I learned that some of their friends got separated after leaving Chiang Mai, somehow ended up at the wrong festival, and missed the entire event.
50% Movie Magic, 50% Chaos
I couldn’t believe it, how could there be that much disorganization? I didn’t get a chance to process it before an event worker approached our Songthaew and said, ‘Sorry, this is booked. Everyone out.’ All 12 of us protested, but she didn’t budge, and we were running out of time. Now a group of us stood down the road from the main pickup point. Darkness surrounded us, too not many Songthaews remained, and we faced a very real chance of getting stranded in the Thai countryside.
Someone in our group said “well at least there’s 12 of us so we’re all in this together, we’ll probably get a full one”. After hearing the word “probably” my brain clicked into that “Dog eat Dog” mentality. I grabbed Faye’s arm and sped walked us back to where the last few Songthaews were, didn’t hear what anyone said as we walked away. All I knew was that 2 people had better odds on getting on a Songthaew than 12.
The Last Songthaew Home
We made our way to where the last shuttles were parked and started talking to everyone we could find. Finally a kind woman grabbed Faye’s arm, pointed, and said “get on that one now”. Faye grabbed me and we ducked inside, it was full of younger Chinese adults all friendly and spoke English. They asked if we were going to the same drop off point as them, I said “man as long as this thing is going to Chiang Mai I don’t give a f@*k where it drops us off”. The guy laughed and could probably tell how frantic we were, he reassured us saying we’d be fine and when whoever “booked” them their Songthaew looked in the back with a flashlight all the students blocked us from view. Absolute heroes. We cleared the lineup of shuttles leaving the grounds and were finally heading back to Chiang Mai.
Final Thoughts on The Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival
I’ve mentioned it numerous times The Yi Peng Thailand Lantern Festival is something I think everyone should try and experience in their life, I’ve truly never seen anything like it. That being said there is definitely a level of disorganization here that probably doesn’t need to be there. I understand it’s Asia, timing and schedules can be more relaxed here (something I love) but with how many years they have ran this event it should be a little more dialed in by now. As I mentioned in the beginning maybe it was just an off year, in any case if you are planning to go witness the magic of Yi Peng I hope these tips come in handy.
