Festivals & Events Calendar
Yi Peng & Loy Krathong Lantern Festival Guide
A guide to Chiang Mai's Yi Peng and Loy Krathong lantern festivals — dates, where to watch, ticketed vs free events, etiquette and photography.
6 min read
Two festivals, one week
They’re constantly conflated, and the difference is worth knowing.
Loy Krathong is the national Thai festival. A krathong — a small float of banana leaf, flowers, a candle and incense — is released onto water as an act of letting go and giving thanks. It happens across Thailand.
Yi Peng is the Lanna northern festival, celebrated in Chiang Mai and the surrounding region. Paper lanterns, khom loi, are released into the night sky.
Chiang Mai is where both happen together and at scale. That’s the whole reason the city fills up in November. This guide sits under our festivals and events hub.
The dates
The festivals follow the lunar calendar — the full moon of the twelfth lunar month — which usually places them in November. The exact dates move by up to a few weeks between years.
Celebrations typically run for three to five days around the main night, with parades, temple events, riverside gatherings and market activity building through the week.
Because the dates move and individual events publish their own schedules, check our News & Updates feed for the current year’s confirmed dates before booking anything.
Ticketed versus free
This is the decision that shapes your experience.
The organised mass releases
Held at venues outside the city, ticketed, and expensive. Several hundred to several thousand baht per person depending on the package. They involve a coordinated release of thousands of lanterns at a set moment, and they’re the source of most of the photographs that bring people here.
If that specific image is the reason for your trip, this is how you get it. Book months ahead; they sell out.
The free community celebrations
Along the Ping River, around Tha Phae Gate, and at temples throughout the Old City. Parades, krathong releases, food stalls, music, and individual lantern releases where permitted.
It costs nothing, it’s what most Chiang Mai residents do, and it’s more atmospheric in a way that’s hard to convey until you’ve experienced both. The city genuinely transforms.
Where to be
| Location | What happens | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Ping River banks | Krathong releases, food, crowds | The floats, the atmosphere |
| Tha Phae Gate | Parades, stage events, dense crowds | Spectacle |
| Old City temples | Quieter local celebrations, lantern releases | The version residents prefer |
| Nawarat Bridge area | Krathongs on the water, viewing | Photography of the river |
| Organised venues outside town | Ticketed mass releases | The postcard image |
Practical advice
- Book accommodation early. Prices in central Chiang Mai spike and availability disappears months ahead.
- Don’t drive. Roads close, traffic gridlocks. Walk or take a songthaew to the edge and walk in.
- Arrive early. The riverside is pleasant at 6pm and packed by 8pm.
- Buy your krathong from a local vendor, not a hotel. It costs a fraction as much.
- Check what it’s made of. Banana leaf and natural materials, not styrofoam. The river is cleaned afterwards and it matters.
- Respect the lantern rules. Releases are restricted in time and place for aviation safety. Follow local guidance.
- Check your flights. Airlines adjust schedules around the festival most years.
Etiquette and photography
This is a religious and cultural festival, not a light show staged for visitors. A few things follow from that.
Dress reasonably if you’re going into temple grounds — the usual shoulders and knees rule applies. Don’t climb on structures for a better shot. Ask before photographing people making offerings. Don’t obstruct someone’s release to get your own photograph.
For photography: a tripod helps enormously, the riverside gives you reflections, and the moments between the mass releases are often more interesting than the releases themselves.
If you’re already here
A note for residents: the crowds tempt people to skip the whole thing. Don’t. Go to a smaller Old City temple celebration rather than the riverside crush — quieter, warmer, and much closer to what the festival actually is.
For the wider annual picture, including which season to visit in, see our guide to Chiang Mai’s seasons.