---
title: "Thailand Festival Calendar"
description: "Verified next dates and live countdowns for Songkran, Loy Krathong, Chinese New Year, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival and Yi Peng."
url: https://bestofthailand.org/festivals
locale: en
---

# Thailand Festival Calendar

Five of Thailand's biggest festivals, with verified next dates and a live countdown to each. Songkran falls on a fixed date every year; the rest follow the Thai or Chinese lunar calendar, so their dates shift annually — we re-verify each one and mark it clearly once a listed date has passed.

**[Phuket Vegetarian Festival](https://bestofthailand.org/festivals/vegetarian-festival)** — Nine days of Taoist ritual purification in Phuket — white-clad processions, street shrines and, for a small number of participants, dramatic acts of self-mortification. — Next dates — 10–18 October 2026 — 10–18 October 2026

**[Loy Krathong](https://bestofthailand.org/festivals/loy-krathong)** — Thailand's Festival of Lights, when small floating offerings of banana leaf, flowers and candles drift down rivers and canals on the November full moon. — Next dates — 24 November 2026 — 24 November 2026

**[Yi Peng](https://bestofthailand.org/festivals/yi-peng)** — Chiang Mai's sky lantern festival, when thousands of glowing khom loy paper lanterns are released into the night on the same full moon as Loy Krathong. — Next dates — 24–25 November 2026 — 24–25 November 2026

**[Chinese New Year](https://bestofthailand.org/festivals/chinese-new-year)** — Lunar New Year celebrations centered on Bangkok's Yaowarat (Chinatown), with lion dances, firecrackers, street feasts and red lanterns for days on end. — Next dates — 6 February 2027 — 6 February 2027

**[Songkran](https://bestofthailand.org/festivals/songkran)** — Thailand's New Year and the world's biggest water fight — three days of street-soaking, temple visits and family blessings, every 13–15 April. — Next dates — 13–15 April 2027 — 13–15 April 2027

## Planning around Thai festivals

Fixed-date festivals like Songkran are easy to plan around years ahead. Loy Krathong, Yi Peng, Chinese New Year and the Phuket Vegetarian Festival all follow a lunar calendar, so their Gregorian-calendar date moves every year — always confirm the current year's date before booking flights or hotels, especially if you're traveling more than a year out. See our [weather guide](https://bestofthailand.org/weather) for how each festival's season affects travel conditions, and [upcoming events](https://bestofthailand.org/events) for what's on right now. Three of the five happen outside Bangkok, so the fare and duration bands for reaching them are in [the route planner](https://bestofthailand.org/routes), and [this weekend in Bangkok](https://bestofthailand.org/this-weekend) flags any festival falling inside the next Friday-to-Sunday window. The countdowns above also run as [an embeddable widget](https://bestofthailand.org/widgets) if you keep a Thailand page of your own.

Best of Thailand

https://bestofthailand.org/festivals

Scan or type the address for opening hours, phone numbers and the map.