PING LANTERN PATCH

You will see thousands of candle trays and colorful hanging lanterns and flag decorations in front of the monument. It is the place where the opening ceremony of The Lighting Candle Tray and the performance of Lanna Traditional Dance take place. The Three Kings Monument is definitely the most colorful place you will see in Chiang Mai in the period of the Loy Krathong and Yee Peng festivals. The spacious public square next to Tha Phae Gate is popular with tourists releasing sky lanterns. The Loy Krathong parade starts from there, the opening ceremony of the festival takes place there, and the beauty contest is also held there. Tha Phae Gate is like the central square of Chiang Mai's old city, where tourists and locals alike relax, enjoy taking photos, and just have fun. You can buy krathongs and sky lanterns from the vendors there at a cost of between 30 to 100 baht (1вЂ“3 USD).ДЄnother popular place to celebrate Loy Krathong is Tha Phae Gate, which lies on the east of the city. The highlight is undoubtedly when the locals and tourists gather to float their krathong (decorative flower rafts) onthe river and release their khom loy (flying lanterns) in the sky. The best spots to watch the celebrations are Nawarat Bridge and the Iron Bridge. If you would like to see a bit of Chiang Mai life outside the usual tourist haunts, walk along the river to participate in the vibrant festive party there. The Ping River is the most popular place for locals to celebrate Loy Krathong. Celebrations can be seen everywhere in the city, from river banks and streets to temples.Д¬heck out the four most popular places to celebrate LoyВ Krathong FestivalВ in Chiang Mai. Yi Peng was so incredibly beautiful and one of the most amazing things IвЂ™ve ever witnessed.Swarms of sky lanterns flying into the nightвЂ™s sky Where to Celebrate Loy Krathong FestivalВ in Chiang Mai: 5 Top PlacesДuring the festival of Loy Krathong, the whole city of Chiang Mai is immersed in the festive atmosphere. Watching our lantern float up to join the othersвЂ¦ДЄnd then the evening was finished off with a surprise firework display! I love how captivated we look in this shot! Our good friend ShawnaВ took this photo of Dave and I making a wish and releasing our lantern. The candle we used to light our lanterns. The lanterns laid out and ready on the grass. Suddenly, a buzz of activity formed as people jumped to their feet, lighting candles and reaching for their lanterns. Beginning with an hour long meditation and prayer, we unfortunately couldnвЂ™t hear or see much of this at all due to tour groups loudly chattering and fireworks exploding in the distance.

It was a long, hot wait, but one that was definitely worth it.ДЄnd so began the ceremony.

PING LANTERN PATCH

After wandering around and wondering why so many areas were cordoned off, our group found a patch of grass in what I was informed was a good position and spent the next few hours hiding under umbrellas, buying our lanterns and eating food. To keep too many tourists from attending they donвЂ™t announce the actual date of the release until a month or so beforehand, meaning that Dave and I had to keep our travel plans very loose over the last few months! Despite a lot of stress and confusion, and me being convinced that my curse in Cambodia would lead to us missing it, we made it!ДЄnd I am very pleased to say that it didnвЂ™t disappoint. The biggest and best of these events takes place at Mae Jo University, 20 kilometres north of Chiang Mai. Yi Peng is a traditional Northern Thailand festival, which takes place around the same time as Loy Krathong and is an event for making merit, meditating and releasingВ floating paper lanterns, symbolic of letting go of worries and making wishes for the future. Narrowly missing it by about a week last year and subsequently having to look at my friendsвЂ™ amazing photos for the next week had Dave and I jealously vowing that we would be back in Chiang Mai to see it in 2012. My sole reason for returning to Chiang Mai was so that I could finally witness the Yi Peng lantern festival in person.

Ping lantern