The mystery, the stories, the fascination which lie in the smooth surface of the waters as well as in their depths have been told and shared by humanity for a long time: the messages in the bottles,  meant to get destinies together or send news, the little paper boats which took us on imaginary journeys during our childhood, to far away, mysterious lands, the offerings given to Gods, on the water, for the fulfillment of wishes, passing rituals, fears, legends, purification hopes…all are tied and untied by…waters.

If you happen to be in Thailand in November (when it`s a warm and lovely weather), you`ll have the opportunity to enjoy a special experience, perhaps unique in the world, a festival of the floating little baskets.

Loy Krathong is a quiet procession of some baskets/decorated bowls, in which people put flowers, banana tree leaves, candles and incense sticks and all negative thoughts, by all means, hatred, anger and worries.

All of them are ritually arranged and launched on the water, and they are accompanied by a little prayer and the deep hope that all worries will be washed away. Then the waters “kindle”. Besides the little baskets of flowers, people let sky lanterns float up into the air and all are accompanied by processions of allegorical cars, which are contless and come from different villages in the area. It`s a fairyland!

“Loy” means to float, and “krathong” is the respective basket; some people put a coin inside for extra luck. Yi Peng means celebrating the sky lanterns-khom loy-in the air, when Thais make a wish and point to the sky while raising up  their objects. All the people let the sky lanterns float up into the sky at the same time, which makes everything so much the more spectacular, and in certain places, even the tourists can do the same thing.

The origins of this festival are no longer clear, but it seems to have begun about 800 years ago and many people believe in their powers. It usually falls in November, according to our calendar, because it is held on a full moon in the 12^th month of the traditional Thai calendar. And as many people want to make a good and lucky start at the very beginning of the new year, it is one of the important events in Thailand; for the couples, it is also highly beneficial, especially if the little baskets float together on the water.

Among the landmarks of the festival I can count the procession of the giant Krathong, the religious ceremony and Lanna cultural performance, a show of lights and sound on the Ping river, a beauty contest and Lanna Thai candle market.

This year, Loy Krathong begins on the 5^th of November in Chiang Mai and ends on the 7^th of November and it will include all kinds of contests, parades and fireworks.

It`s the colored advice in Chiang Mai.