“Floating Lanterns Light the Sky!”- Chiang Mai, Thailand’s Cultural Experience- Learn How to Release a Lantern- Event Review-

Chiang Mai’s cultural experiences were so unique I loved learning about their customs and was thrilled to have met the Thai people and actually participate in some of their customs.

Sometimes dining at one of Chaing Mai’s restaurants allowed visitors to participate in the releasing paper lanterns ceremony.

After having a wonderful dinner at the Baan Suan Rim Ping Restaurant, I walked to the garden and watched the staff bring out everything we needed for the lanterns.

The large lanterns were composed of non-flammable fabric or rice paper. Guest got together in groups of 2’s, 3’s and 4’s waited for their instructions.

Candles were attached to the bottom of the lantern and once the candle or fuel cell was lit, the lantern filled with hot air and began to inflate. The force of the hot air moved the lantern up into the sky. Guests had to hold the ends of the lantern lightly and allowed it to move on its own power and not to stop its ascent. Finally when the lantern reached a height above the people’s heads it was time to release it.

As the lanterns were floating into the sky everyone saw the light shining through the lantern and the flickering flames underneath. It was a thrill seeing the sky filled with flaming lanterns!

You would not have to wait for a Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai because they also conduct this ceremony at special occasions and restaurants. According to their traditions, the Lantern Release was supposed to bring good luck to the participants.

This Lantern release process was compared to riding in a hot air balloon.

Thai festivals

Lanna (northern Thai) celebrate one very important festival in which sky lanterns are used is the Lanna festival known as “Yi Peng“. During the Yi Peng festival, lanterns are launched into the air where they resemble large flocks of giant fluorescent jellyfish gracefully floating by through the sky. The most elaborate Yi Peng celebrations can be seen in Chiang Mai, the ancient capital of the former Lanna kingdom. The festival is meant as a time to make merit.

People will also decorate their houses, gardens and temples with intricately shaped paper lanterns which take on different forms. It is considered good luck to release a sky lantern, and many Thais believe they are symbolic of problems and worries floating away. In recent times, the floating lanterns have become so popular with all Thai people that it has become an integrated in to the Loi Krathong festival in the rest of country.

If you are planning a trip to Thailand, try to visit during one of their festivals. www.tourismthailand.com