Bangkok festivals calendar: Songkran, Loy Krathong and temple fairs
Bangkok festivals follow two calendars at once: the Thai lunar calendar, which sets the Buddhist holy days and Loy Krathong, and the Chinese one, which runs Yaowarat's big events. Most dates move each year, so this guide gives the usual month and the best place in the city to be for each. Check the map for exact dates once the year's schedule is announced.
January and February: Chinese New Year
Yaowarat closes to traffic for Chinese New Year, usually in late January or February. Expect lion dances, red lanterns along the whole road, firecrackers at the shrines and food stalls end to end. The main temple, Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, is the centre of it. The Chinatown guide has the layout. Makha Bucha, the first big Buddhist holy day, usually falls in February or early March, with candlelit evening processions at every temple and no alcohol sales that day.
April: Songkran
Thai New Year on 13 to 15 April is the water festival. The official version is a gentle pouring of water over Buddha images and elders; the street version is three days of water pistols and buckets. In Bangkok, Silom Road and Khao San are the two big water-fight zones, and Siam and CentralWorld host sponsored stages. Temples hold merit-making and sand-chedi building. Everything gets wet, including phones, so bag them.
May to July: royal and Buddhist days
The Royal Ploughing Ceremony at Sanam Luang in May opens the rice-planting season with oxen and Brahmin priests, one of the few royal rites open to the public. Visakha Bucha in May or June and Asalha Bucha in July are the two other major holy days, followed by Khao Phansa, the start of the rains retreat, when candle processions take place and the city's bars close for the day.
September and October: the Vegetarian Festival
For nine days in late September or October, Yaowarat turns yellow: the flags mark stalls serving jay (vegan) food, and the road becomes a long, meat-free night market. It is a Chinese-Thai purification festival, quieter in Bangkok than in Phuket, and the best time of year to eat in Chinatown.
November: Loy Krathong and the Golden Mount fair
Loy Krathong, on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, usually in November, is the night when the city floats small decorated rafts of banana leaf on the water. Lumphini and Benjakitti parks open their lakes, and the river piers and Asiatique fill with people launching krathongs. In the same week, Wat Saket, the Golden Mount, holds its annual temple fair: a red cloth is wrapped around the chedi, the hill is lit up, and the grounds below fill with food stalls, games and stage shows for about nine nights. It is the best surviving temple fair in the city. The old town guide covers the area.
December: the Red Cross Fair and New Year
The Red Cross Fair, a charity funfair with food, games and stalls from every province, runs for about ten days in December in Lumphini Park. 5 December, the late King's birthday, is Father's Day and a public holiday with lights along Ratchadamnoen. New Year's Eve countdowns happen at CentralWorld in Ratchaprasong and at ICONSIAM on the river, with fireworks over the water.
Temple fairs through the year
Smaller ngan wat, temple fairs, happen at neighbourhood temples all year, usually around a temple's anniversary or a kathina robe-offering in October and November. They are free, open-air and full of food, with outdoor cinema or likay folk theatre on a stage. The map lists them as they are announced.
Getting there
- Yaowarat: Wat Mangkon MRT; the road is closed to cars during festivals.
- Silom for Songkran: Sala Daeng BTS or Silom MRT.
- Khao San: Phra Athit pier or taxi.
- Sanam Luang: Sanam Chai MRT.
- Lumphini: Silom or Lumphini MRT.
- Wat Saket: Sam Yot MRT, then a short walk or taxi.
On Buddhist holy days and election days alcohol is not sold, bars close and some venues shut entirely. Build it into the plan rather than discovering it at the bar.