Northern Thailand Events

The northern calendar is organised around the lunar months, and two festivals in particular draw people to the region from across Thailand and beyond.

Yi Peng and Loi Krathong — November

The region’s great spectacle, falling on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month. Loi Krathong is national: small rafts of banana leaf, flowers and candles are floated on rivers and ponds to carry away the past year’s misfortune. Yi Peng is specifically Lanna, and layers onto it the release of thousands of paper lanterns — khom loi — into the night sky. Chiang Mai is the place to see both, with parades, illuminated bridges over the Ping and the old city lit throughout. Accommodation books out months ahead, and the mass lantern releases sold as ticketed events are separate from the free public celebrations, which many people find better.

Songkran — 13 to 15 April

The Thai new year, marked by pouring water over Buddha images and over the hands of elders as a blessing — and, in practice, by three days of enthusiastic water fighting in the streets. Chiang Mai’s celebration is the largest and longest in the country, centred on the moat, which supplies the ammunition. Expect to be soaked from the moment you leave your accommodation, and protect anything electronic.

Through the year

Bo Sang Umbrella Festival in January, when the umbrella-making village parades its work. Chiang Mai Flower Festival in early February, at the end of the cool season. Inthakin in May or June, a week-long city-pillar rite at Wat Chedi Luang that is entirely local and rarely seen by visitors. Buddhist Lent from July to October brings candle processions and a quieter, more devotional stretch of the calendar.