A great traditional festival of lights in the Thai culture, Yi Peng is of great importance to the locals. The practice has been carried on since time immemorial. The festival was initially started to mark the end of the monsoons and the beginning of the winters, primarily it was celebrated as a solo event, but shortly gained popularity among the locals and is now celebrated along with the Loi Krathong. The festival is celebrated all across the country, but it is most popular in the northern part. City of Chang Mai is often suggested as the best venue to indulge in this celebration.
Yi Peng is the festival of lights which is celebrated alongside Loi Krathong, in this festival it is believed that the lotus shaped repositories when released upon water fetch good luck and also fulfill wishes. The celebration of Yi Peng is the most unique in Chang Mai, it is here that hundreds of thousands of lanterns are let off into the night sky while making a wish. In turn the night sky seems to look as if it were an ocean of lanterns, creating a scenery which is truly mesmerizing.
Celebrated as a festival to pay homage to Buddha, Yi Peng also holds great cultural importance. The lanterns which are released into the sky are liberated two times in the same week, one being the traditional ceremony conducted in Thai and later the lantern release, the second release ceremony is conducted in english. The first release is free of cost and anybody can attend it, but to take part in the second release you would have to pay an amount of 100USD.
Apart from the lantern release, an number of others events are also carried out during the whole week in Chang Mai like: fireworks, old town decoration, beauty pageants, Thai dances and the amazing parade of Yi Peng. The second main attraction of this festival is the folk Lanna Dance in which the beautiful Thai women dance to the traditional songs with long and pretty golden nails. You must definitely visit the country of Thailand which has such an amazing culture and when visiting make it a point to attend the “YI PENG” and blow away all your fears.