Every month
Next: 27 October 2026 · Haad Rin beach, Koh Phangan
A beach rave running since the late 1980s, with neon body paint and multiple stages along one beach through to sunrise.
February
Chiang Mai Flower Festival
5 to 7 February 2027 (expected) · Buak Hat Park and the old city, Chiang Mai
A three-day celebration of Chiang Mai's cool-season blooms, with a flower-covered parade and garden displays.
6 February 2027 · Yaowarat Road, Bangkok, with Phuket Town also strong
Bangkok's ethnic-Chinese community closes Yaowarat Road for lion dances, street food and an opening ceremony.
April
13 to 15 April 2027 · Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Pattaya and Ayutthaya
Thailand's New Year, a Buddha-blessing tradition that has grown into a nationwide street water fight lasting several days.
May
Bun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival)
7 to 9 May 2027 (expected) · Yasothon, at Phaya Thaen Park
Villages compete to build and launch huge homemade bamboo rockets, historically to call the rain gods before rice planting.
June
15 June to 15 July 2027 (expected) · Dan Sai district, Loei province
A village festival where locals dress as spirits in coconut-husk masks and parade before a Buddhist sermon closes it.
July
Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival
17 to 19 July 2027 (expected) · Ubon Ratchathani, Isaan
Building-sized carved wax candle floats parade through the city to mark the start of Buddhist Lent.
October
10 to 18 October 2026 · Phuket Town, with smaller versions in Trang, Krabi and Hat Yai
Nine days of strict vegetarian eating and Taoist purification rituals, including cheek-piercing and firewalking by trance mediums.
November
Lopburi Monkey Buffet Festival
29 November 2026 (expected) · Lopburi, central Thailand
The town lays out a huge fruit and vegetable buffet for Lopburi's resident macaque population, who mob the tables within minutes.
24 November 2026 · Sukhothai, Chiang Mai and Bangkok
A nationwide evening of floating small candle-lit rafts on rivers and lakes to apologise to the water goddess.
20 to 22 November 2026 (expected) · Surin province
A large elephant show of parades and a big elephant breakfast, held in a province with a long mahout tradition.
24 to 25 November 2026 · Chiang Mai, with ticketed mass releases outside the city at Mae On
The northern Thai sister festival to Loy Krathong, when thousands of paper sky lanterns are released at once.
December
3 to 7 December 2026 · The Fields, Siam Country Club, Chonburi, near Pattaya
A five-day boutique arts, music and sustainable-living festival on farmland, closer in spirit to Glastonbury than a Thai festival.
Thailand's festival calendar has a genuine best season built into it: the cooler, drier months from November to April carry almost every major event, from the country's biggest water fight to its prettiest lantern nights. Here's what's on each month, what it's actually like, and how to plan a trip around it.
How Thailand's festival dates are set
Songkran is the odd one out: the government fixes it at 13 to 15 April every year by the solar calendar, so it never moves. Almost everything else, including Loy Krathong, Yi Peng and the Full Moon Party, follows the lunar calendar and is tied to a specific full moon, which drifts by roughly 11 days earlier each year without a leap-month correction. A third group follows a weekend rule that local offices confirm each year: the Surin Elephant Round-up is usually the third weekend of November, and Lopburi's Monkey Buffet is the last Sunday of November. Wonderfruit has no fixed rule at all, and its organisers announce the dates each year. Whichever type a festival is, check its date for the year you're actually travelling before you book anything around it.
January
The Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan runs every month regardless of the season, so January is as good a month as any to catch one if your dates line up with the moon. The 2027 January party is on 22 January. When a full moon lands on a Buddhist holy day, the party moves by a day.
February
Chinese New Year takes over Yaowarat Road in Bangkok's Chinatown, one of the biggest celebrations of the lunar new year outside China, with lion dances and street food stalls. In 2026 the planned street celebration on 17 and 18 February was cancelled for royal mourning, and lantern lights ran from 7 February to 1 March instead. Lunar New Year day is 6 February in 2027, and Yaowarat hasn't announced its programme yet. Chiang Mai's cool-season blooms get their own three-day showcase in the Chiang Mai Flower Festival, a gentle, photogenic parade through the old city that pairs naturally with a Chiang Mai stop already on most Thailand itineraries. The 49th edition ran from 13 to 15 February 2026, with the flower-float parade on Saturday 14 February. The city traditionally holds it on the first weekend of February but hasn't announced 2027 dates.
April
Songkran, the Thai New Year, is the festival most people picture when they think of Thailand: three days of nationwide water fighting (13 to 15 April, with events from 11 April in 2026, and Tuesday to Thursday in 2027) layered over a quieter tradition of bathing Buddha images and pouring water over elders' hands for good luck. Chiang Mai's Old City moat and Bangkok's Silom and Khao San roads are the biggest and most tourist-friendly spots; keep your phone in a waterproof pouch and stay off motorbikes, since Songkran sees a real spike in road accidents nationally.
May
Villages across Isaan compete to launch homemade bamboo rockets skyward at Yasothon's Bun Bang Fai, held on the second weekend of May (8 to 10 May in 2026, and probably 7 to 9 May in 2027, though Yasothon hasn't announced it). It's a loud, chaotic and very locally social festival historically meant to call up the rain gods before rice-planting season. It's welcoming to visitors who join the pre-launch parades, though the rockets do occasionally misfire, so keep well back from the firing line.
June
Dan Sai, a small town in Loei province, transforms for Phi Ta Khon, when locals parade through the streets in coconut-husk spirit masks and colourful rag costumes before a Buddhist sermon closes the three-day event. In 2026 it ran from 20 to 22 June, with the main ghost parade on 21 June. Dan Sai's spirit mediums set the dates close to the event, so 2027 isn't fixed yet. It's one of Thailand's most visually distinctive festivals and one of the least touristed, though getting to Loei from Bangkok takes real effort and isn't a realistic day trip.
July
Ubon Ratchathani's Candle Festival marks the start of Buddhist Lent with a procession of elaborately carved wax floats, some building-sized, through the city. The 125th edition ran from 28 to 30 July 2026, and the 2027 main parade is expected on Khao Phansa, Monday 19 July, though the province hasn't announced a programme. It's a spectacular, under-the-radar event for travellers who've already done Songkran and Loy Krathong and want something less commercialised.
October
The Phuket Vegetarian Festival brings nine days of strict vegetarian eating (10 to 18 October in 2026) and intense purification rituals, including mediums who pierce their cheeks with skewers in trance, to Phuket Town's Hokkien Chinese community. It's not for everyone: the processions are loud and graphic, and standing back from them matters more than avoiding the piercings themselves, since falling firecracker debris and crowd crush near the mediums are the real risks. The 2027 dates are expected around 30 September to 8 October, worked out from the Chinese lunar calendar, so confirm them nearer the time.
November
This is Thailand's prettiest festival month. Loy Krathong sees small banana-leaf and flower rafts floated on rivers nationwide to apologise to the water goddess and let go of the past year, with Sukhothai's historical park and Chiang Mai and Bangkok's riverbanks the best places to watch. Loy Krathong is on 24 November in 2026 and expected on 13 November in 2027, though some calendars show the 14th. In Chiang Mai, Yi Peng runs alongside it, with city events from 24 to 26 November 2026. The famous mass release of paper sky lanterns happens only at licensed, ticketed sites outside the city, on 24 and 25 November 2026. Those events sell out months ahead and aren't cheap. Sky lanterns are banned inside Chiang Mai itself, so in the city you get hanging lanterns, parades and krathongs on the river instead, all free. The same month, Surin province holds its Elephant Round-up, expected on 20 to 22 November 2026 (not officially announced yet, with the main shows expected on 21 and 22 November). Lopburi lays out its quirky Monkey Buffet Festival for the town's resident macaques on the last Sunday of November, which is 29 November in 2026 (the programme isn't published yet). It's best treated as a fun Bangkok day trip rather than a cultural deep-dive.
We also run a dedicated seven-day trip timed to Loy Krathong and Yi Peng, from Bangkok to Sukhothai to Chiang Mai; the Loy Krathong festival guide has the festival details, and the trip page lists current dates.
December
Wonderfruit closes the year with five days of art installations, wellness workshops and live music on farmland outside Pattaya, closer in spirit to Glastonbury than a typical Thai festival. In 2026 it runs from 3 to 7 December at The Fields, Siam Country Club, in Chonburi, a week earlier than usual because Tomorrowland debuts in Pattaya on 11 to 13 December. Tickets are expensive by Thai standards: a five-day pass costs 11,900 baht in October, 12,900 baht in November and 20,000 baht at the door. Accommodation is booked separately, as general camping, a cabin or an off-site hotel, so it suits travellers with a bit more budget than the average backpacker.
Planning a trip around a festival
Book tickets, not just rooms, for Yi Peng. The official mass lantern-release events are ticketed, held at licensed sites outside the city, sell out months ahead and cost several thousand baht. If you miss them, sky lanterns are banned inside Chiang Mai, but the hanging lanterns, parades and krathongs on the river are free.
Prices spike around the big dates. Chiang Mai and Bangkok accommodation rises sharply around Songkran and Loy Krathong week; book as early as you can if your dates are fixed.
Crowds and safety depend on the festival. Songkran's real danger is the roads, not the water, so avoid motorbikes for the three days. At the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, stand well back from processions rather than close to the mediums. At the Full Moon Party, go with people you trust, use a dry bag and don't swim out drunk at night.
Some festivals need real travel time, not just a date. Phi Ta Khon and the Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival both sit in Isaan, several hours from Bangkok by road with no direct rail; they reward a trip built around them, not a last-minute add-on.
Dress and behave with the occasion in mind. Dress modestly at temples even during Songkran's water fights, don't splash monks, older people or motorbike riders, and buy a biodegradable krathong for Loy Krathong rather than a foam one.
Which festival suits you
| You want | Try |
|---|---|
| A no-holds-barred party | Songkran's street water fights, or the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan |
| A quiet, reflective evening | Loy Krathong's riverside lantern floating, away from the biggest crowds |
| Something to photograph all night | Yi Peng's ticketed lantern releases near Chiang Mai, or its hanging lanterns in the city |
| Culture without the mayhem | Chinese New Year on Yaowarat Road, or the Chiang Mai Flower Festival |
| Something completely different | Phi Ta Khon's spirit masks in Dan Sai, or the Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival |
