Yi Peng 2026 dates and the difference from Loy Krathong

Yi Peng 2026 falls on the full moon of the twelfth Thai lunar month — Monday 23 November, with festival activities running 22 to 24 November. Yi Peng is the Lanna sky-lantern festival; Loy Krathong is the nationwide water-lantern festival on the same night. They overlap in Chiang Mai but they are not the same thing. This guide covers the dates, the events worth attending, the ones to avoid, and how to do the festival ethically.

What's the actual difference between Yi Peng and Loy Krathong?

Yi Peng is the Lanna (Northern Thai) sky-lantern festival. Loy Krathong is the nationwide water-lantern festival. They fall on the same full-moon night so they look like one event in Chiang Mai, but they have distinct rituals and origins.

The two festivals coincide, which causes most of the confusion. Both are tied to the full moon of the twelfth Thai lunar month — usually November. Both involve releasing something (a sky lantern for Yi Peng, a small floating lantern called a krathong for Loy Krathong) as an act of letting go and making merit.

The mechanical difference:

• Loy Krathong is celebrated nationwide. You float a small lotus-shaped lantern of folded banana leaves, with candles and flowers, on a river or pond. The dedication is to Mae Khongkha (the river goddess). Originated in Sukhothai-era Buddhism, spread south and across Thailand.
• Yi Peng is a Lanna tradition specific to Northern Thailand and parts of Laos and Burma. You light a sky lantern (khom loi) — a paper lantern with a small fuel cell — and release it into the night sky. The dedication is similar: letting go of misfortune and making merit.

In Chiang Mai both happen on the same nights. In Bangkok, only Loy Krathong is celebrated. In some northern provinces, Yi Peng festivities last for three nights, with the main release on the central full-moon evening.

When exactly is Yi Peng 2026?

Monday 23 November 2026 is the main full-moon night. Festival activities run Sunday 22 November through Tuesday 24 November. Some hotel events extend the window to Friday 20 through Wednesday 25 November.

Lunar-calendar dates are calculated from the Buddhist Era count. Local astrology offices sometimes shift the central night by one day depending on the precise time of the full moon. The Tourism Authority's published date is the one to follow.

What are the events worth attending?

Three free, two paid. The Three Kings Monument lantern lighting and the Ping River krathong release are essential. The Ratchadamnoen parade is worth standing in for 45 minutes. The two paid mass-release events vary by year on whether they are running.

If you have one night, the Wat Phan Tao decoration and the Three Kings Monument lighting fit into a single 9pm to midnight loop on foot. If you have three nights, spread to include the Ping River release on a separate evening and the parade on a third. If you are in town for a few days before the festival, a daytime Doi Suthep temple and Hmong village tour is the best way to see the city's signature temple without the Yi Peng crowds.

What about the mass-release events at Mae Jo?

The famous Mae Jo Buddhist mass-release event has run inconsistently over the last decade. Some years it is open to international travellers via ticket, some years it is restricted to participants from CAD (Centre for Active Buddhists), some years it is paused entirely.

The Mae Jo university release was the photo most foreigners associate with Yi Peng — thousands of lanterns rising together in a single coordinated release. It is a religious mass-merit event, not a tourist show, and tensions between tourism interest and the host community have led to repeated rule changes.

What to expect:

• 2023 and 2024: Held with paid international tickets at ฿4,000 to ฿12,000 per person depending on tier.
• 2025: Held with reduced scale.
• 2026: Confirm with the CAD Mae Jo office directly via the Tourism Authority of Thailand Chiang Mai office, accessed 2026-03-01.

If the Mae Jo event isn't running or you cannot get tickets, the unofficial copycat events along the airport road are often described as "Yi Peng" by tour operators selling them but are commercial fireworks-and-lantern shows on private land. The atmosphere is different. Some are excellent, some are over-priced and rushed.

Is releasing a sky lantern safe and legal?

Legal during the festival window inside designated zones, illegal elsewhere. Sky lanterns are aircraft-strike hazards, which is why the zones are away from the airport approach path.

The Thai Civil Aviation Authority (CAAT) and Chiang Mai International Airport coordinate a "no-fly window" for aircraft during peak lantern release on the central night, which is why some flights to and from Chiang Mai are rescheduled or rerouted on Yi Peng evenings. Check your airline's policy before booking November 22–24 flights into or out of Chiang Mai.

What about the parade on Ratchadamnoen?

Two parades, one on Tha Phae Road on the evening of 22 November and one on Ratchadamnoen on the evening of 23 November. Both involve floats, traditional Lanna costume, dance and music. Free, just turn up.

The parades are slow-moving — a 90-minute float procession with breaks for performances. Stand or sit near the start (Tha Phae Gate is a good viewing point) for the freshest dancers. Stand further along the route (near Wat Phra Singh) for a longer dwell time at each float.

The Lanna costume on the floats is the visual highlight. The dance is traditional Lanna fingernail-dance (fawn lep) and lantern-dance (fawn khom). Older Chiang Mai families come out in matching family costume for both nights.

Families travelling with young children who want a calmer pace can pair the evening events with a private Doi Suthep and Wat Pha Lat tour on a quieter morning, then save energy for the lantern lighting after dark.

How crowded is Chiang Mai during Yi Peng?

Very. Yi Peng is the city's peak tourist week of the year. Hotel rates double, flights to Chiang Mai run full, the moat-loop traffic is closed in sections.

The single largest practical impact: book accommodation early. Mid-range Chiang Mai hotels that run at ฿1,800 on a normal November night list at ฿4,500 to ฿7,500 during the Yi Peng week. The Tha Phae and Old City zones sell out first. Nimman runs out next. The Riverside and Mae Hia areas hold availability longer because they are slightly further from the central events.

The traffic plan changes day-to-day. The moat-loop section through the Old City is closed to vehicles for several hours on parade nights. Songthaew red trucks pause or detour. Plan to walk between events on the central night. The Old City is a 20-minute walk corner to corner.

What's the local food and dress for Yi Peng?

Khanom krok and grilled satay sold from festival stalls along the parade route. Traditional Lanna sarong-and-blouse dress for women, white shirts with a sash for men — both available as rentals at festival markets.

The festival food cluster on Ratchadamnoen and around Three Kings Monument is one of the better-organised street-food rows of the year. Pad Thai cooked to order, grilled river prawns, satay sticks, sai oua sausage, fresh-pressed sugar cane juice, and the usual khanom krok and kanom buang from our Chiang Mai dessert guide.

The Lanna festival dress is genuinely worn by local families. If you want to join in, several rental shops around the Old City offer Lanna outfits at ฿200–฿500 per night, with photos available on Instagram of the rental result. Tourists in costume are welcomed, not mocked.

What about ethics — is Yi Peng problematic?

The lantern release has real environmental issues, mostly debris in agricultural land and on power lines. Designated zones and biodegradable lanterns address most of this. The festival overall is a working Lanna religious event, not staged for tourists.

The two genuine concerns:

1. Lantern debris. Bamboo-and-paper lanterns drift over a wide area and end up on farms, in trees and on power lines. Northern Thai farmers reported significant clean-up cost during Yi Peng in past years (source: Bangkok Post agricultural reporting, 2019, accessed 2026-03-01). The shift to rice-paper biodegradable lanterns over the last 6 years has reduced this.
2. Wildlife and aircraft. Animals occasionally swallow lantern debris. Aircraft are protected by the designated no-fly windows.

The ethical play for visitors: stick to the designated zones, buy a biodegradable lantern from a city-licensed vendor (look for the printed local-government certification on the wrapper), and do not release one outside the festival window.

What other festivals around Yi Peng are worth knowing?

Songkran in April is the other major Chiang Mai festival — the Thai New Year water festival. Travellers planning around Songkran should read our Songkran Chiang Mai survival guide. The broader question of when to come for weather and crowds is in our best time to visit Chiang Mai overview.

The other festivals worth knowing about for Chiang Mai trips:

• Songkran (13–15 April): Water festival. The Old City becomes a giant water fight. Hotels run full. Cooler outside the Old City because the water fight is concentrated on Ratchadamnoen.
• Inthakhin (May–June): City pillar festival at Wat Chedi Luang. Much smaller and more local than Yi Peng. Worth a brief detour if your trip overlaps.
• Loy Krathong (same night as Yi Peng main): The water-lantern half of the November festival.