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Yi Peng Lantern Festivalยี่เป็ง

The Lanna sky-lantern tradition of the north — and the most heavily managed, most photographed festival in Thailand

Next
In 8 weeks
24–25 November 2026
Where
Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai
Public holiday
No
Alcohol sales
Normal

In short

Yi Peng is northern Thailand's version of the twelfth-month full moon, distinguished by khom loi: paper lanterns lifted by a burning wick and released into the night sky. It coincides with Loy Krathong and is centred on Chiang Mai. The mass simultaneous releases that appear in every photograph are private ticketed events held well outside the city, and they are expensive; releases inside Chiang Mai itself are tightly restricted for aviation and fire safety.

A crowd at the Yi Peng festival in Chiang Mai holding up glowing white paper sky lanterns, with a long trail of already-released lanterns climbing across the dark sky towards a bright moon behind thin cloud.
Visions of Domino / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Go if

  • Temple grounds in Chiang Mai's Old City — Wat Phan Tao and Wat Chedi Luang are lit with hundreds of lanterns and cost nothing
  • The Tha Phae Road parade, which is the local festival rather than the tourist one
  • Anyone who has budgeted properly for a ticketed release and understands what they are buying
  • Doi Saket and the lakes north-east of the city, where free releases are still possible in some years

Be aware

  • Sky lantern releases are banned or restricted across most of central Chiang Mai, including the Old City and anywhere near the airport
  • Flights in and out of Chiang Mai are cancelled or rescheduled around the release windows every year
  • Official mass-release tickets run roughly ฿4,900–15,900 per person; cheaper venues start near ฿2,500
  • The free release sites are chaotic, poorly lit and full of lanterns coming down still burning
  • Hotels in the Old City are booked out four to six months ahead and charge festival rates
  • Ticket resale scams are common; several sites use near-identical domain names to the official organiser

Yi Peng is the festival most people mean when they say they want to go to Thailand for the lanterns, and it is the one most likely to disappoint if you arrive without a plan. The image everybody has — a thousand lanterns rising in unison over a field — is a specific, ticketed, privately staged event roughly 30 to 40 kilometres from Chiang Mai. It is not something that happens spontaneously in the Old City.

The three versions, and what each costs#

How to see Yi Peng
Ticketed mass releaseFree release sitesCity festival only
Cost per person฿4,900–15,900 (budget venues from ฿2,500)฿30–100 per lanternFree
WherePurpose-built fields 30–40km outside the cityNong Bua Prachao Luang lake, Doi Saket, and other permitted sites outside the cityTha Phae Gate, Wat Phan Tao, Wat Chedi Luang, the Ping riverside
What you getTwo lanterns and a krathong, Lanna dinner, performances, return transfer, simultaneous releaseA lantern, a lighter and a crowd. No seating, no organisation, no photographs of a synchronised releaseParades, lantern-lit temples, krathong floating, street food. No sky lanterns
Booking lead timeThree to six months; the good tiers sell out firstNone, but arrange return transport before you goAccommodation four to six months out; nothing else to book

The rules have tightened, and they change#

Chiang Mai International Airport sits immediately south-west of the Old City. A paper lantern with an open flame is a genuine hazard to aircraft, and the civil aviation authority now issues an annual set of permitted release zones, permitted hours and no-release areas, with airlines cancelling or retiming flights around them. Releasing a lantern outside a permitted zone is an offence, and enforcement has become real rather than nominal.

The practical consequence is that you should not book flights into or out of Chiang Mai on the festival nights themselves, and you should not assume that a lantern bought from a street vendor can be legally lit where you are standing. Check the current year's zones with your hotel before you buy one.

What to wear and bring#

  • November evenings in Chiang Mai drop to around 17–19°C and the release fields are open ground. Bring a layer.
  • Ticketed venues generally ask for modest dress and many encourage Lanna-style white or cream clothing; sleeveless tops and short shorts are discouraged at temple events.
  • Closed shoes. Release fields are grass and dirt, and there is falling ash.
  • A phone on a lanyard, not in your hand — you will be lighting a lantern with both hands in a crowd.
  • Cash for lanterns, krathongs and food stalls; card acceptance outside the ticketed venues is patchy.

Common questions

Can I release a lantern for free in Chiang Mai?

Not inside the Old City, the riverside core or anywhere near the airport. In recent years permitted free releases have been possible at lakes north-east of the city such as Nong Bua Prachao Luang in Doi Saket. The permitted list is reissued annually — confirm locally rather than relying on a guide written for a previous year.

Are the ticketed events worth the money?

If the synchronised release is specifically what you came for, there is no other way to get it. If you want the atmosphere of the festival, the free city programme — the temple illuminations, the Tha Phae parade, the river — delivers more for nothing, and you can still release a single lantern at a permitted site.

What about the environmental objection?

It is legitimate. Lanterns come down as wire and coated paper across farmland and rooftops, and fire services see a spike in callouts every year. Organisers of the ticketed events now generally use biodegradable frames and run collection teams; the free releases have no such arrangement.

Is Yi Peng the same night as Loy Krathong?

It shares the same full moon. In 2026 the Loy Krathong full moon is 24 November and lantern events run on both the 24th and 25th, so in Chiang Mai you can float a krathong on the Ping and attend a release without choosing between them.

Dates

The full moon of the second month of the Lanna calendar, which falls at the same full moon as Loy Krathong — a November evening, usually with organised lantern events across two consecutive nights. Chiang Mai city runs parades, temple illuminations and a bridge procession over roughly the same period.

  • 24–25 November 2026Ticketed mass-release events run on both nights; the Loy Krathong full moon is 24 November.

Sources

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