Photo: Nik Cyclist, CC BY 2.0, cropped, via Wikimedia Commons
For three nights in late November, Chiang Mai fills with candlelight. Clay lamps line the old city walls, paper lanterns hang across the lanes around the temples, and thousands of people walk down to the Ping River to set small floating offerings on the water. It's one of the most beautiful things I know of in Southeast Asia, and it's also very easy to get wrong if you're booking from a photo.
The photo in question is usually a sky full of lanterns. That part of the festival now works differently from what most people expect, and this year's dates are close. The full moon falls on November 24, so the main nights are November 24 and 25.
Two festivals on the same moon
Loy Krathong is celebrated across Thailand. People float a krathong, a small raft traditionally made from banana trunk and leaves, with a candle and incense on top, to give thanks to the water and let go of the year's bad luck.
Yi Peng is the northern part of the story. It belongs to the old Lanna kingdom, and the name refers to the full moon of the second Lanna month, which lines up with the same night. Lanterns are its signature, both the kind you hang and the kind that go up. In Chiang Mai the two celebrations run together, so you'll hear the names used almost interchangeably.
What the flight cuts mean for you
Sky lanterns and airplanes don't mix, and Chiang Mai International Airport sits very close to the city. Thai newspaper Thairath reported on November 3 that 108 flights have been cancelled and 80 retimed between November 21 and 28, with 105 special flights added to make up some of the capacity. Airlines were asked to avoid flying during the lantern windows, from 10 a.m. to noon on November 24 and from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. on November 24 and 25.
If you already hold tickets, check them again, because airlines contact passengers directly. If you're still booking, the simplest plan is to arrive by November 23 and leave on November 26, in daylight. Local guide Via Chiang Mai suggests the same, and I can't improve on it.
The lantern rules most visitors miss
This is the part worth reading twice. Releasing a sky lantern isn't a free-for-all. According to Chiang Mai's aviation rules as reported by the Bangkok Post and local outlets, a safety zone extends 4.6 kilometers either side of the runways and 18.5 kilometers beyond each end. It covers the old city and a large share of the surrounding districts. Inside it, lanterns, kites, balloons and drones are all off limits. Thairath describes the red zones along the flight paths as areas where release is "absolutely prohibited."
So the vendor selling you a lantern on a bridge isn't giving you permission to light it. Fines have been reported in past years, and the rules are enforced harder near the airport. I'd leave it alone. Lanterns also come down somewhere, often on roofs and farmland, still burning or trailing wire.
The mass releases you see in the pictures happen at licensed, ticketed venues outside the city. Via Chiang Mai listed CAD Khomloy in Mae On at 4,880 to 15,880 baht and Chiangmai Wonderland at 1,590 baht when it checked this week. Those prices are for 2026 only and could change, and many of these tickets are non-refundable. A listing is not a permit, either, so confirm the venue is licensed and the date says 2026 before you pay. Some of these events are lovely. Some are a long bus ride and a queue.
The free nights are the best part
You don't need a ticket for most of what makes this week special. Published plans for this year look like this, though the details can shift, so check with the Tourism Authority of Thailand or your hotel closer to the date.
On November 23, the light exhibition opens at Tha Phae Gate, and a candlelit procession gathers on Ratchadamnoen Road around 5 p.m. before heading to Wat Chedi Luang. Clay lamps go on at the corner bastions of the old city at about the same time.
November 24 is the full moon and the night to be at the river. Local landings around Nawarat Bridge and the Iron Bridge fill with people launching krathongs. Do yours from a landing and not from the bridge, and watch your step, since the banks can be dark and slippery.
November 25 brings the Grand Krathong Parade out of Tha Phae Gate toward the municipal offices. The main stage this year is at Ton Lam Yai Market park, beside the river.
Also make time for Wat Phan Tao, a 14th-century teak temple in the old city where lanterns go up around the courtyard. It's small and it fills up quickly, so get there before sunset, which comes a little before 6 p.m.
Where to stay and how long
Pick somewhere you can walk from. The east side of the old city near Tha Phae Gate works well, and the riverside makes particular sense this year because the main venue is on the Ping. Roads close and traffic crawls on festival nights, so a hotel 20 minutes out by car can feel a lot farther. Late November is the start of the cool, dry season, which is the best weather of the year here. Hotels know this, so book now and take a rate you can cancel.
If you can, give Chiang Mai four or five nights and keep a couple of them free of the festival. Spend one morning up at Doi Suthep and another at a cooking class, some of which will teach you to make your own krathong. (You'll be bad at it, and it will float anyway.)
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