# Loy Krathong Chiang Mai 2026: dates, where to watch, lantern rules

> Loy Krathong Chiang Mai 2026 is on November 24, with Yi Peng the same nights. Where to watch, what the lantern rules are and how it changes your trip.

- URL: https://traypass.app/blog/loy-krathong-chiang-mai-2026
- By: Gonzalo Fuentes, Traypass
- 2026-10-31
- [es](https://traypass.app/es/blog/loy-krathong-chiang-mai-2026) · [fr](https://traypass.app/fr/blog/loy-krathong-chiang-mai-2026) · [de](https://traypass.app/de/blog/loy-krathong-chiang-mai-2026) · [it](https://traypass.app/it/blog/loy-krathong-chiang-mai-2026) · [ja](https://traypass.app/ja/blog/loy-krathong-chiang-mai-2026)

## In short

- **When**: Loy Krathong is on **Tuesday, November 24, 2026**. Chiang Mai's Yi Peng events run around it, on the nights of **November 24–25**; some programs start on the 23rd. Check the city's program in early November.
- **Two festivals at once**: Loy Krathong (floating offerings on the water) and Yi Peng, the Lanna festival of lanterns.
- **Where**: Tha Phae Gate for the opening, the Ping River at Nawarat Bridge for the krathongs, the old city for the parades.
- **Sky lanterns** are banned in the city and around the airport. The mass releases you see in photos are ticketed events outside town.
- **Flights**: in 2025 the last flights left by 7 p.m. on the main nights and about 160 were moved or canceled. Book early.

**Loy Krathong in Chiang Mai in 2026 is on Tuesday, November 24**, and the Yi Peng lantern events run around it, on the nights of November 24–25. Once a year, on the full moon, the city fills its river with candles and its streets with paper lanterns. It is a great time to be there, and a hard one to plan. Here is when it falls, where to go, what the lantern rules are, and how to build the rest of your days around it.

- Loy Krathong: Nov 24Tuesday, 2026, the full moon night

- Yi Peng nights: Nov 24–25Some programs start on the 23rd

- Last flights in 2025: 7 p.m.About 160 flights moved or canceled

## When is Loy Krathong in 2026?

Loy Krathong is on **Tuesday, November 24, 2026**, the night of the full moon of the twelfth month of the Thai lunar calendar. The date moves every year, so last year’s dates will not help.

Year

Loy Krathong

2024

Nov 15

2025

Nov 5

2026

**Nov 24**

Chiang Mai’s events run over about three nights around it, mostly **November 24–25**; some programs start on the 23rd. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the city publish the official program shortly before the festival, and it had not come out when this was written. Check it before you book anything that cannot be moved.

In Chiang Mai, two festivals land on the same nights. **Loy Krathong**, held all over Thailand, is about the water: people float a krathong, a small raft of banana leaf, flowers, incense and a candle, to let go of the year’s bad luck. **Yi Peng** is the north’s own festival of lights: temples and streets hung with Lanna lanterns, and paper lanterns sent up into the sky.

## What happens, and where to see it

The free festival is in the old city and on the river: Tha Phae Gate, the Ping River and the parade route. The sky-lantern releases are a separate, ticketed thing outside town.

**Tha Phae Gate.** The festival opens at the old city’s east gate, with a ceremony, music and the gate lit by lanterns. It is the meeting point for the first evening and gets crowded early.

**The Ping River at Nawarat Bridge.** This is where people float their krathongs. Vendors along the river sell them for a small sum; light the candle and set it on the water from the steps by the bridge. The bridges are the best places to watch the river fill with candles, and the most crowded.

**The parades.** On the main nights, floats of giant krathongs and dancers in Lanna dress parade through the old city toward the river. Find a spot on Tha Phae Road an hour before it starts.

![An illuminated parade float at night in Chiang Mai, decked with lanterns, flowers and gilded figures, with spectators lining the road](/_astro/photo-MyJQpPraR6w.V_N2Y0Lb_1Qb2Ja.webp)[Farida Tania · Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/MyJQpPraR6w?utm_source=traypass&utm_medium=referral)

**The temples.** Many temples in the old city hang hundreds of lanterns and light candles around their grounds. Wat Phan Tao, next to Wat Chedi Luang, is one of the loveliest, and one of the busiest.

![Rows of glowing Lanna paper lanterns in red, yellow, white and teal hanging on wires against a deep blue evening sky](/_astro/photo-6LpveJKPydI.CcRZMTLy_Zatvd3.webp)[Rob King · Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/6LpveJKPydI?utm_source=traypass&utm_medium=referral)

Loy Krathong in Chiang Mai

1.  **Tha Phae Gate** — The opening ceremony
2.  **Nawarat Bridge** — Krathongs on the Ping River
3.  **Wat Phan Tao** — Lanterns and candles
4.  **Wat Chedi Luang** — Old city
5.  **Wat Phra Singh** — Old city
6.  **Chiang Mai Airport (CNX)** — No lanterns nearby

### Can you release a sky lantern?

No, not in the city or near the airport. Releasing lanterns is banned inside the old city and in the air safety zone around Chiang Mai International Airport, which reaches about 11.5 miles beyond the ends of the runway and covers the whole old city. In 2025 the reported penalty was up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 200,000 baht (about $5,900), and more if a lantern starts a fire.

Where

Lanterns

Old city and riverside

Banned

Around the airport

Banned

Licensed events outside town

Ticketed

The photos of thousands of lanterns rising at once come from those **ticketed events**. They are private, they sell out, and listings put tickets at about 4,900 to 15,900 baht ($145 to $470). Buy only from the organizer’s own site or an agent you trust, since fake tickets are common.

The provincial order for 2026 comes out shortly before the festival, and the rules above are the ones in force in 2025. Read the new one, or ask your hotel.

## How does the festival change your trip?

It makes everything more expensive, slower and busier, so book early and leave slack around it.

-   **Hotels.** The old city and the riverside fill up months ahead, and prices for the festival nights climb sharply. Book as soon as you know the dates, with free cancellation in case they shift.
-   **Flights.** Flights from Bangkok sell out and get expensive. In 2025 the airport ended flights by 7 p.m. on the main nights, and about 160 were moved or canceled. The 2026 arrangements had not been announced when this was written; if yours lands or leaves in the evening, check with the airline.
-   **Crowds.** Getting across the old city takes much longer on the main nights. Walk where you can; songthaews and taxis get stuck.
-   **Timing.** Arrive a day or two before the full moon and stay a day after, so a delay doesn’t cost you the festival.

## What to do in Chiang Mai in the daytime

The festival happens at night, so the days are free. Use them for the sights, which are quieter in the mornings.

Start with **Doi Suthep**, the temple on the mountain above the city: take a red songthaew from near the zoo, then climb the 306 steps of the naga staircase, and allow two and a half hours. Back in town, **Wat Phra Singh** keeps one of the north’s most revered Buddha images, and **Wat Chedi Luang** is the great ruined chedi in the middle of the old city, a short walk away.

In this sample trip, the full-moon day is Tuesday, November 24: a Thai cooking class in the morning, five and a half hours free, then **Loy Krathong by the Ping River** at 7:00 p.m., at Nawarat Bridge. Traypass shows each day with its stops, its times and the day on the map, and the [itinerary planner](/itinerary-planner) can fit the temples around the festival nights.

![A Thailand trip in Traypass: Tuesday, November 24 in Chiang Mai with a Thai cooking class at 9:30 in the Old City, then Loy Krathong by the Ping River at 7:00 p.m. at Nawarat Bridge, the day on a map, and the flight to Krabi the next morning](/_astro/th-trip-chiangmai-front.uMzR19mz_23t4sQ.webp)

Entry rules in Good to know

Under Good to know, Traypass shows what your passport needs. Since September 15, 2026, US citizens can stay up to 30 days without a visa, down from 60, and every visitor fills out the Thailand Digital Arrival Card online, for free, in the three days before arriving. Loy Krathong itself is not a public holiday: banks, offices and museums stay open.

![Good to know for Thailand in Traypass: entry requirements for a US passport, no visa needed for up to 30 days, tourism only, and the Thailand Digital Arrival Card to fill out online, free, in the three days before you arrive](/_astro/th-dest-entry-front.CmvOeW8I_Z1t5RuT.webp)

## Etiquette and safety

-   **Choose a natural krathong.** Banana trunk, banana leaf, flowers and bread float and break down. Foam ones pollute the river, and many vendors have stopped selling them.
-   **Don’t take someone else’s krathong** off the water, even for a photo.
-   **Sky lanterns only at a licensed, ticketed event.** Never in the city, near the airport or near trees and wires. At an event, let go only when the lantern pulls upward; never release one that tilts or is torn.
-   **Fireworks and firecrackers** go off everywhere. Keep children close and stay back from the riverbank crowds.
-   **At the temples**, dress modestly: cover your shoulders and knees.

For visas, money and plugs before you go, see [Thailand before you land](/blog/what-to-know-before-traveling-to-thailand).

## Questions people ask

### When is Loy Krathong 2026 in Chiang Mai?

Loy Krathong is on Tuesday, November 24, 2026, the night of the full moon of the twelfth Thai lunar month. Chiang Mai's Yi Peng events run around it, on the nights of November 24–25, and some programs start on the 23rd. The city publishes its program shortly before, so check it before you book anything that cannot be moved.

### What is the difference between Loy Krathong and Yi Peng?

Loy Krathong is celebrated across Thailand by floating a krathong, a small offering of banana leaf, flowers and a candle, on a river or lake. Yi Peng is the northern, Lanna festival of lanterns. In Chiang Mai they fall on the same nights.

### Can you release a sky lantern in Chiang Mai?

Not in the city or near the airport. Releasing lanterns is banned in the old city and the air safety zone around Chiang Mai International Airport, and the penalties reported for 2025 were up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 200,000 baht (about $5,900). The legal way is a licensed, ticketed event outside town.

### Is Loy Krathong a public holiday in Thailand?

No. Banks, offices and museums stay open. The public holiday nearby is December 5, the birthday of the late King Bhumibol, which is also Father's Day.

### Do I need tickets for Yi Peng?

Not for the festival in town: Tha Phae Gate, the parades and the river are free. The mass lantern releases are private, ticketed events outside the city; listings put tickets at about 4,900 to 15,900 baht ($145 to $470).

### Do flights to Chiang Mai change during Yi Peng?

They can. In 2025 the airport ended flights by 7 p.m. on the main nights and about 160 flights were moved or canceled. The 2026 arrangements had not been announced when this was written, so check with your airline.

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