Loy Krathong & Yi Peng in Chiang Mai 2026: the honest guide

Two festivals, one full moon

What you're seeing is actually two things at once. Loy Krathong is the national one — the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, when all of Thailand floats a krathong (a little boat of banana trunk, leaves, flowers and a candle) on the water to let the year's bad luck drift away. Yi Peng is the northern Lanna version of the same night, and it's the one with the lights: candles on the old city walls, lanterns hanging from every temple, and — famously — paper lanterns rising into the sky. Chiang Mai does both together, which is why it's the place to be for this.

The full moon is 24 November, and the city's programme usually wraps the day before and after, so expect things to be happening roughly 23–25 November — the city publishes the exact schedule in October, and the big parade has lately been on the night after the full moon.

The walk: Tha Phae Gate to the river

Start at Tha Phae Gate around sunset — this is where the whole thing radiates out from. The old brick walls are lined with little clay oil lamps, there's a stage, the moat is already dotted with floating candles, and the crowd is building. Then just follow everyone east along Tha Phae Road. It's maybe a kilometre to the river and it'll take you an hour, in the best way: lights overhead, stalls both sides selling krathongs for ฿20–50 (up to ฿100 for the fancy ones — go for banana leaf or bread, the styrofoam kind is banned), firecrackers and sparklers, grilled everything, and about half the city walking with you.

You end up at Nawarat Bridge, and this is the moment. The riverbanks are packed, people are crouching at the water's edge lighting candles, and hundreds of krathongs are already out there, wobbling downstream in a line of tiny flames. Firecrackers go off constantly — not a few, constantly — and somewhere someone always has proper fireworks. The bridge itself gets so full it can take twenty minutes to cross. Let it. Nobody's in a hurry.

Little tip: the crush is worst right at the bridge. Walk a few hundred metres up or down the bank — towards Wat Chai Mongkhon downstream is where a lot of locals launch, with monks chanting in the background — and you'll get water's edge, a quiet spot to light your candle, and the same view.

About those sky lanterns

You've seen the photos: thousands of lanterns lifting off at once, the sky full of them. So let's be straight about it, because a lot of people arrive expecting to do that on Tha Phae Road, and it doesn't work like that.

Releasing sky lanterns in Chiang Mai city is illegal. The whole of Mueang district — the city, the Old Town, the river — sits in the airport's flight path, and every year the province declares it a no-lantern zone under the Air Navigation Act. The penalties on paper are serious: up to five years in prison and fines up to ฿200,000. The airport still cancels or moves dozens of evening flights on the festival nights because of stray lanterns, which tells you how seriously they take it. Lanterns are only permitted at registered sites well outside the city, and only in a short evening window.

Will you still see the odd lantern over the river? Yes — enforcement isn't perfect and a few always go up. But police patrol Tha Phae Gate, the bridge and the temples on festival nights, and last year the centre was noticeably lantern-free compared to before. We wouldn't. Apart from the legal side, a lantern landing on a wooden roof in a packed city is exactly as bad an idea as it sounds.

If the mass release is your dream — and it is a genuinely magical thing — the way to do it is a ticketed event outside town. The two big ones are the Yee Peng Lanna International at Mae Jo (about ฿4,600–6,400) and the CAD festival at Mae On (฿4,900 up, transfer included), both on 24–25 November; smaller venues around Mae Taeng and Lamphun run for ฿2,500–4,900. They sell out weeks ahead and prices climb from October, so if you want it, book now.

The bits people miss

Wat Phan Tao — the teak temple next to Wat Chedi Luang — does a candle ceremony each festival night that's quieter and, for our money, more beautiful than anything at the river: hundreds of candles around a pond, an illuminated Buddha, monks chanting, lanterns in the trees. Go early evening before the river. (Its famous mass lantern release ended after COVID, so don't expect that.)

Three Kings Monument hosts the opening ceremony — hundreds of candle dancers on the square — plus free krathong-making workshops in the evenings. And the parade is the one thing worth planning around: it comes down Tha Phae Road from the gate to the river, around 5–7pm, with the huge lantern floats and beauty queens. Arrive an hour early for a kerbside spot.

Practical stuff, honestly

Flights: don't book anything out of Chiang Mai after about 6pm on 24 or 25 November — evening flights get cancelled or moved every year because of the lanterns, and the airport announces the changes only in late October. Hotels: this is the peak of peak season; Old Town or riverside, booked months out. Getting around: Tha Phae Road effectively closes for the parade, the bridge is a slow-moving crowd, and Grab is hopeless on festival nights. A scooter is the only thing that works — park it near the moat and walk the last bit like everyone else. Kids: wonderful, with one caveat — firecrackers get thrown around carelessly, so keep small ones close near the river.

Last thing: it's a Buddhist festival before it's a spectacle. Light your krathong, make a wish, watch it go, and give the year's junk to the river. That part works whether you believe in it or not.