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Northern
Thailand Cultural Heritage
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Northern Lantern Festival
Yee Peng of Chiang Mai |
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| Loy Krathong Festival in Chiang Mai 30 October 2001 - 1 November 2001.
The festival celebrated during the full moon each November (Yee Peng). The festival is very well known to Thai people and also foreigners. The meaning about "Loy Krathong" is to float a lotus-shapped vessel made of banana leaves. Loy means "to float" and Krathong means a a lotus-shapped with banana leaves. The Krathong contains a candle, tree joss-sticks, flowers and coins.
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| At the Loi Krathong festival in Chiang Mai "Khom Loi (floating lanterns)" Lanna-style hot-air ballons also drift up into the sky. These large ballon-like lanterns are made from Saa paper. They are released at temples and sometimes from private homes in the hope that misfortune will fly away with the lantern. | |||||||||
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| The culmination of the festival in Chiang Mai is giant Krathong parades contest that will hold on the third night. The largest Krathongs are as big as trucks, prepared by organizations and adorned with thousands of flowers in exquisite designs. Perched high above the magnificent floral displays are beautiful women dressed in traditional costumes. The floats are judged according to the floral displayed and the women's beauty and the best of them will be set on rafts and floated downstream past thousands of spellbound onlookers. |
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| The origin of the festival can be traced to the idea of water spirits and floating away of all wrongdoing and uncontrollable calamities that befell people of the north and northeastern parts of Thailand. Villagers of rural Thailand maintain that the festival show penitence to the River Goddess. The lives of the villagers are dependent on the river. Therefore they make an annual show of respect and gratitude to the river by floating a "Krathong" onto the water. | |||||||||
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As the full moon in November is rising, it is a time of the year when people go to the local rivers or canals to ask Mother of Water for forgiveness in polluting the water over the past year. | ||||||||
| Chiang Mai Loy Krathong Festival schedule
Tue 30th Nov,2001 6 p.m. Light and Sound, Local night market 7 - 12 p.m. 20,000 Krathong release, Firework, and Lanna Cultural Performance, Hand made Krathong contest, Yee Peng Opening ceremony, Local Lantern parade and contest, Children beauty contest |
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Wed 31st Nov, 2001
7 a.m. Rites Honouring White Chedi 9 -12 a.m. raft racing, Hot -air balloon contest 10 - 12 a.m. Border patrol police show 6 -12 p.m. Krathong procession and contest, Front door houses and temple decoration, Beauty queen contest |
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Thr 1 st, Nov, 2001
6 - 12 p.m. Giant Krathong procession, Beauty queen contest |
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