Floating Lantern Festival | Chiang Mai, Thailand

One of the most spectacular and striking celebrations to participate in overseas is the floating lantern festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand. During Yi Peng or Yee Peng scores of people gather in northern Thailand to release thousands of rice paper lanterns into the full moonlit night sky. It’s an extraordinary spectacle and something that should be on everyone’s bucket list!

Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Chiang Mai’s Lantern Festival

What is this lantern festival anyway?!?

Every year in Thailand two festivals take place around the same time; Yi Peng (Yee Peng) and Loi Krathong. These coinciding festivals culminate into a beautiful celebration of lights. The dates for these festivals are based on two separate lunar calendars and therefore fluctuate each year slightly. If you, like myself, base your life off the Gregorian Calendar then… all you need to know is these festivals take place on the evening of the full moon in November.

Loi Krathong – Floating Baskets on Water

The festival of Loi Krathong is celebrated throughout Thailand and usually lasts three days. In those three days locals celebrate with parties, parades, fireworks and, on the eve of the full moon, release small floating baskets (krathongs) onto surrounding rivers, canals, and other waterways. 

The exact origins of the event I can’t speak to, but some believe the act of releasing the floating baskets came from an ancient ritual of paying homage to the river spirits. Today, offering thanks to the Goddess of Water.

Others say the festival is observed to honor the Buddha. The candle on the float to venerate the Buddha and the act of releasing the raft drawing on the symbolic act of letting go of one’s hate, anger, transgressions, negative thoughts, and/or the past.

Yi Peng (Yee Peng) – Floating Sky Lanterns

Usually, when someone mentions the lantern festival in Thailand, they are referring to Yi Peng. Sky lanterns were recently popularized in the movie “Tangled,” where Rapunzel sings about how she has a dream to see the floating lanterns gleam. It turns out what she’s longing for happens every year in Chiang Mai, Thailand! 😛

Traditionally, the mass release of floating lanterns, into the night sky, occurs on the evening of the full moon in November. With the largest celebrations happening around the city of Chiang Mai.

Yi Peng is a Lanna (or Northern Thai) Buddhist festival celebrated for the purpose of merit-making; a fundamental concept in Buddhism. The act of releasing lanterns into the sky is believed to represent the end of one’s misfortune.

Where to Experience Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai

There are a couple ways to participate in Yi Peng. During the three days of festivities, lanterns can be seen every night floating across the moonlit sky. The mass releases will usually occur on the full moon night though. If you want the awe-inspiring moment that you probably have built up in your mind, then the key is to be at one of the mass releases.

Yi Peng Lantern Release Events – Paid

The best way to see Yi Peng is at one of the paid events hosted at various venues around Chiang Mai. The reason these paid events are so extraordinary is… they include a ceremony and ritualistic meditation before release, and you are guaranteed to have thousands of lanterns floating over your head. The peace and warmth felt beneath those lanterns is one of those moments where words fall short of expressing the experience adequately.

**Note there is ongoing of push back from airline companies and the airport to restrict and limit the mass lantern releases in areas that could impact safe air travel. It is essential to always check ahead on the status of events and any recent news coming out of Thailand related to these events.**

Here is a list of the most popular known mass lantern release events which will require tickets to participate.

Yi Peng from Chiang Mai City – Free

If you do not want to be a part of an organized event and avoid having to purchase tickets, you can still participate in Yi Peng. Throughout Chiang Mai, on the eve of the full moon, there are a few non-organized lantern releases. 

One of the largest gatherings in the city is probably on the Narawat Bridge. There, large crowds of locals and tourists gather to set their lanterns afloat. This is an entirely non-organized event though, and because of that you likely won’t get the ‘WOW’ impact of a single mass release. Around the bridge, there are countless vendors you can purchase lanterns from.

The Three Kings Monument is also an excellent place to be for Yi Peng. There, spectators get to witness a bit more of a traditional experience which includes meditation, procession, and, of course, a lantern release. This is a bit more of an organized event but still falls short of the big events.

What’s the BEST way to see Yi Peng?

If you’re going to Chiang Mai for the festival and are planning your trip a few months out – then it is 110% worth the money to attend one of the mass release events. It is an unforgettable experience and the only way to guarantee you get that ‘WOW’ moment.

Witnessing anywhere between three and five thousand warmly lit rice paper lanterns floating overhead is a magnificent spectacle.

If you have the time and resources to make it happen, then do it for yourself and/or for your loved one! It is a buck list experience you’ll remember the rest of your life!

How to Properly Release Your Own Lantern on Yi Peng

The ritual of lantern releasing on Yi Peng is precisely that – a ritual. Therefore it is essential to keep in mind the reason it is done in the first place, and how you can prepare yourself to do it properly.

During Yi Peng lanterns are released to honor the Buddha. The tradition itself is a very visual representation of impermanence. Impermanence is one of the keep concepts Buddha identified and instructed his students to accept and/or embrace. The act of lighting the lantern and then appreciating its beauty as it drifts away out of sight is an exercise of embracing impermanence.

In addition to honoring the Buddha, the release of lanterns also symbolizes letting go of any negativity or bad ‘juju’ you may be holding onto. Anything you may be harboring that isn’t positively serving you, put that energy into the lantern and let it drift away. Liberate yourself from it!

Steps to Release Your Lantern

1. Get your head right! Meditate for a few moments. Set an intention for your lantern release. Think of anything that may be weighing heavily on your heart or darkness you may be wrestling with mentally. Try to imagine transferring that energy into the lantern.
2. With a match, lighter or torch ignite the small candle or block at the base of the lantern. While doing this, make sure to keep the sides of the lantern away from the flame. If it the rice paper catches on fire your lantern will go up in flames. Be careful!
3. Once the candle is lit, gently extend the lantern out to its fullest extent.
4. Hold the lantern fully extended and patiently wait for the warm air to fill the lantern like a hot air balloon. It will take longer than you think. Hold tight and don’t let the flames touch the rice paper!
5. When the lantern is full of warm air, and you can feel it starting to rise up on its own, close your eyes and make one final wish.
6. Release your lantern and watch is slowly drift away out of sight.

Note: This process is much easier with two people. You have to be very careful to keep the sides of the lantern away from the open flame. Having someone to help will increase the chances of a successful release!

Happy Yi Peng!

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