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The Yi Peng Festival -
Loi Kratong to you

Yi Peng has always been one of the most celebrated festivals for Lanna people. During this occasion they float little banana leaf basket vessels containing lighted candles, incense sticks and some other small offerings down river, paying their respects to the spirit of the waters, Mae Nam Konka, and hoping their bad luck will be carried away at the same time. In the past and still today in some localities, temples and houses are florally-decorated and lit by lanterns. Housewives meet to prepare special foods to take to the temple.

However, Chiang Mai's celebration has become rather less decorous recently, the Yi Peng festival taking on something of the rowdy character of April's Songran Festival - watch out for small boys with fire-crackers, for example. Nevertheless, you can still sample the quieter, more restrained aspects of the festival away from the crowded main thoroughfares of the city, where the massive and very impressive festival floats are carried from the companies, schools and government offices where they've been created, down to the river. So, if you're not against crowds and jostling, try getting a vantage point down by the river or on Thapae Road. If on the other hand you like it quieter, you might consider drifting to the fringes of the town, or even out to places like Chiang Mai's older sister-city, Lamphun.

Anyway, wherever you are, have lots of fun, take lots of pictures, and make sure you see your little banana vessel floating down the dark waters with its bravely flickering candle. An evening to remember.

Highlights of This Year's Yi Peng

WHAT THE WELL-DRESSED VISITOR WEARS TO THE FESTIVITIES

If you really want to fit in at the Loi Krathong Festival, why don't you try dressing in the local fashion? It's easy to do and if you hunt around on the 3rd Floor of Varorot Market, you can find what you need cheaply and quickly. Here's what's appropriate:

Girls - pasin - traditional tube skirt with decorations

suea - hand-made cotton blouses

rong-tau dtae - sandals

decorations - few jewels or bangles, plenty of dork malai (jasmine) garlands

Guys - sa-dor - dark blue, wide-flare, draw-string trousers

sea-shirt - also dark blue, hand-made cotton (in pa puan muang)

rong-tau - local sandals, but not rubber flip-flops

decorations - just like the girls...flowers