Lights Up: What to Expect From the Yi Peng Lantern Festival 2022

Thailand’s highly anticipated lantern festival is back!

Happening on Nov. 8-9 at Chiang Mai, the Yi Peng Lantern Festival is a time to perform religious rituals and show devotion to the Buddha. Often referred to as the celebration of lights, this two-day festival sees Thai families decorate their homes with colourful lanterns to illuminate the neighbourhood. At nighttime, they gather to release them into the air as a sign of good luck. Are you planning on attending the magical event? Here’s what you can look forward to at this year’s Yi Peng Lantern Festival.

Spectacular Light Shows

The Yi Peng Lantern Festival is well-known for its enchanting lights brightening the northern part of the Land of Smiles.

Prepare your cameras as this year’s event will feature three light shows including Sky Lanterns, an activity to set free lanterns into the skies; Krathong, an opportunity to float lotus-shaped baskets into the river to show gratefulness to the “Goddess of Water”; and Phang Prateep, a time to populate the town with candles in small clay pots for wisdom and prosperity.

Immersive Performances

The festival will bring together talented artists for a round of spectacular numbers.

Get ready to dance the night away as you witness patriotic performances and mini-shows featuring the Hmong, Karen, and Akha tribes. For added excitement, there will also be a fire dance number to ward off negative energies and celebrate the milestones of Thai people through the years. A live orchestra will grace the festival alongside the performers.

Mouthwatering Delights

No celebration is complete without food.

During the two-day festival, pop-up stores and street vendors will overflow the streets of Chiang Mai. Look out for a wide variety of appetising delights such as som tam (papaya salad), moo ping (grilled pork sewers), jok (rice porridge), mango sticky rice, and guay teow (noodle soup). What’s more, there will be cooking demonstrations where the food will be prepared in front of you, so make sure to document the experience.

Guidelines and Tickets

Only 3,500 guests are allowed to participate per day. Tourists may book a single-day visit, but for the full experience, purchase the two-day package. The ticket options are as follows: THB4,600 (Standard), THB5,000 (VIP), and THB6,400 (Premium).

For more information, visit this page.