Major Thailand Events & Festivals
Last Updated: May 29,2020Thailand Calendar and Festival
Get ready for 2020 most significant events and carnivals in Thailand. Whether you are a Northern or Southerner, there is something for you! Whether you are traveling in a convoy of your friends or searching for fantastic family events in Thailand, you will surely find all these exciting cultural carnivals appealing as part of your list of events for Thailand tours. Check the list of events below.
**Please kindly noted that some festivals might be canceled due to COVID 19 this year. We will update the latest news in this page. We strongly recommended that you check with our travel advisor before making any travel arrangements.
January
New Year's Public Holiday, January 1st 2021
February
Miss Chiang Mai Flower Festival, the first Friday - Sunday February (5-7 th February 2021)
Miss Chiang Mai Flower Festival 2021: 5th-7th, February 2021
Miss Chiang Mai Flower Festival 2020: 7th-9th, February 2020
Miss Chiang Mai Flower Festival 2019: 1st-3rd, February 2019
Chiang Mai, popularly called 'The Old City' is adorned with stunning flowers as well as plants for entire three days that the event last on the two occasions. Guests troop in to watch many kinds of flora and fauna exhibition including locally cultivated orchids. Aside from the display of flowers, the festival also showcases a procession showing effervescent and colorful flowers while different dancers appear in different traditional outfits.
Chinese New Year (the Spring Festival), Juanuary - February
Chinese New Year 2020: 25th - 27th, January 2020
Chinese New Year 2021: 12th - 14th, February 2021
Chinese New Year 2022: 1st - 3rd, February 2022
Chinese New Year 2023: 22nd - 24th, January 2023
Chinese New Year 2024: 10th - 12th, February 2024
In commemoration of the first day of the lunar almanac, the Chinese celebrate their New Year with dragon dances and fireworks inside the Chinatown, Chinese temples and any other place where there is a large number of Chinese. According to Chinese tradition, everyone put on red dresses because it is a propitious color.
Thailand International Kite Festival, Friday, 21 – Sunday, 23 February 2020
Thailand International Kite Festival 2019: 22nd - 24th, March 2019 and 8th – 10th, March 2019
Thailand International Kite Festival 2018: 22nd – 26th, Febuary 2018
Thailand International Kite Festival 2017: 10th – 12th, March 2017
Pattaya International Music Festival, 19th-20th, February, 2021
Pattaya International Music Festival 2021: 19th-20th, February, 2021
Pattaya International Music Festival 2020: 20th -21st, March, 2020
Makha Bucha Festival, Friday, 26 February 2021
Makha Bucha Festival 2019: Tuesday, 19 February 2019
Makha Bucha Festival 2020: 8th-10th, February 2020
Makha Bucha Festival 2021: Friday, 26 February 2021
Makha Bucha Festival 2022: Wednesday, 16 February 2022
Makha Bucha Festival 2023: Monday, 6 March 2023
Makha Bucha Festival 2024: 24th-25th, February 2024
Maya Music Festival, 19th-20th, February, 2021
Maya Music Festival 2021: 19th-20th, February, 2021
Maya Music Festival 2020: 31st January – 1st February 2020
Thailand Festivals in February
March
The Poy Sang Long, between end March and mid-April
King's Cup Elephant Polo, March 29-31, 2018 Closed now
Thailand Festival in March
April
Thai New Year / Songkran Festival, Tuesday, 13 April - Thursday, 15 April 2021
Wet and wild Songkran
April 13-15 is a Thai Public Holiday for celebrating Songkran Thai New Year Water Festival.
In commemoration of the Songkran Festival in Thailand, a national holiday is declared. This festival marks the start of another year for the Thais. The word Songkran derived from the Sanskrit work called 'Samkranti,' meaning 'Zodiacal Passage.' Songkran remains the most fun-filled of all the events and carnivals in Thailand.
If possible, do not move around with valuables and if you can't help it, carry them in a skin-tight outfit as pickpockets are not unidentified at these occasions.
Songkran is also the largest water-combat festival across the globe; an event that generally set free even the shiest and most conservative of the Thais! Click and see more useful Travel Guide about Songkran (Water Splashing) Festival.
What Time of Songkran?
The Songkran is a time when all Thais in diaspora return home to be with their relatives and family members to celebrate the Thais' New Year festivals. In the backdrop of the water flinging carnival is a spiritual consecration that involves sprinkling of water by relations. The water sprinkling is traditional Buddhist fiesta that is observed on the 13th through 16th of April every year except there is a change in that date by official government broadcast.
| Songkran Festical | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| Songkran Festival 2020 | 13 Apr to 15 Apr | Mon to Wed |
| Songkran Festival 2021 | 13 Apr to 15 Apr | Tue to Thu |
| Songkran Festival 2022 | 13 Apr to 15 Apr | Wed to Fri |
| Songkran Festival 2023 | 13 Apr to 15 Apr | Thu to Sun |
| Songkran Festival 2024 | 13 Apr to 15 Apr | Sat to Tue |
Water Water Everywhere
Chiang Mai remains the spiritual source of the Songkran Festival, an event that lasts for five days. Anytime the event is going in; the entire city is filled with fun-filled activities that involve a high number of people including men, women as well as children. Equipped with water guns, squirt weaponries, and buckets of cold water, the people are all ready for a water fight! Every street corners and roads a potential water bucket traps during this water festival. The most famous place where these groups of people are saturated is the Ping River, the Thapae Gate, and the canal moats.
Tips
- Avoid swallowing any water as many fill-ups come from the channel.
- Use plastic nylons to keep your phone dry. Nobody is protected from a soaking so be prepared to get damp and take it with a smile at all the time.
- Do away with the riding of a scooter! Imagine having cold water thrown at you while on a fast bike, and falling in the process. In a nutshell, riding a motorcycle during this festive period is not safe!
Thailand Festival in April
May
Vesak (Visakha Bucha Day), 14th or 15th day of the 4th lunar month
Vesak Day 2020: Wednesday, 6 May 2020
Vesak Day 2021:Thursday, 8 April 2021
Vesak Day 2022 Sunday, 15 May 2022 - Monday, 16 May 2022
Vesak Day 2023 Friday, 5 May 2023 – Monday, 5 June 2023
Vesak Day 2024 Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Chanthaburi Fruit Anniversary, 19th-27th, May, 2019
Royal Ploughing Ceremony, Monday, May 11 2020
Royal Ploughing Ceremony 2020: Monday, May 11 2020
Royal Ploughing Ceremony 2021: Tuesday, May 11 2021
Royal Ploughing Ceremony 2022: Friday, May 13 2022
Royal Ploughing Ceremony 2023: Thursday, May 11 2023
Royal Ploughing Ceremony 2024: Monday, May 6 2024
Boon Bang Fai (Rocket Festival), 9th- 10th, May 2020
Boon Bang Fai 2019: 8th- 12th, May 2020
Boon Bang Fai 2020: 9th- 10th, May 2020
Boon Bang Fai 2021: 7th- 9th, May 2021
June
Phi Ta Khon (Ghost Festival), from end June to start July on different dates. (the weekend of the 6th-7th lunar full moon)
Phi Ta Khon 2020: 26th - 28th, June, 2020
Hua Hin Jazz Festival, usually held in June, date's different
Hua Hin Jazz Festival 2019: 7th-8th, June, 2019
Thailand Festival in June
July
Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival, around July, the days of Asanha Puja
Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival 2020: July 14th-15th, July, 2020
Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival 2019: 12th – 17th, July, 2019
August
Mother's Day in Thailand (The Queen's Birthday), 12th August
Thailand Mother's Day 2020: Wednesday, 12 August 2020
October
Buffalo Racing Festival (Wing Kwai), Thursday, October 29, 2020
Buffalo Racing Festival 2019: Sunday, October 6, 2019
Buffalo Racing Festival 2020: Thursday, October 29, 2020
Phuket Vegetarian Festival, 16th-25th, October 2020
Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2019: 28th September - 7th, October 2019
November
Loy Krathong Festival, Sunday, 1 November 2020
Loy Krathong is also known as Ye Peng Festival which annually held on the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar.
Some years back, a separate sky lantern released was hosted by a Buddhist faction at a Mae Jo temple; an event that is not related to the Yi Peng Lantern Festival. Starting from the year 2015, the mass Lantern Release has been commercialized to allow tourists to get a ticket from US$100.
| Loy Krathong Festival | Date |
|---|---|
| Loy Krathong Festival 2020 | Sunday, 1 November |
| Loy Krathong Festival 2021 | Friday, 19 November |
| Loy Krathong Festival 2022 | Wednesday, 9 November |
| Loy Krathong Festival 2023 | Tuesday, 28 November |
Surin Elephant Roundup, Friday, November 13 2020 - Sunday, November 15 2020
Surin Elephant Roundup 2019: 15th-17th, November, 2019
Surin Elephant Roundup 2018: 16th-18th, November, 2018
Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival, the last Sunday of November
Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival 2020: 28th-29th, November 2020
Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival 2019: 23rd – 24th November 2019
Naga Fireball Festival, mid-October - early November 2020
Naga Fireball Festival 2019: 5th -13th October 2019
Thailand Festivals in November
December
Father's Day in Thailand (King Bhumibol's Birthday), 5th December
Father's Day in Thailand 2020: Monday, December 5, 2020
Father's Day in Thailand 2021: Sunday, December 5, 2020
Wonderfruit Music And Arts Festival, 10th –14th, December, 2020
Monthly Festival
Koh Phangan Full Moon Party Holds Every Month
December 31, the New Year Eve, which happens to be a public holiday, falls during the week. The events leading to the official countdown of the New Year in numerous locations across Thailand as well as Chiang Mai, Bangkok and Pattaya.
The Koh Phangan Full Moon Party has become a famous institution across the globe the ancestral home of the event remains the crescent bay of Haad Rin Beach on the southernmost slope of Phangan Island in Thailand. Over 12 powerful public address systems turn the whole of the 800-meter long beach into the most famous global open-air nightspot once a month, with an energetic festival-like atmosphere filled with prodigious music as well as vast numbers of liquor. This exclusive event is consistently listed on vessel lists as one of Thailand's indispensable experiences that every tourist's nut witness!
More than 30,000 party lovers assemble on the famous sand strip to dine and wine in the radiance of the Earth's closest heavenly neighbor, throughout the entire night till dawn. Due to the amount involved in cleaning the whole place after such carnage, the local community implemented an entry fee of v to gain access to the beach on the night of Koh Phangan Full Moon Party.
Kindly Note
Majority of the people participates in the Koh Phangan Full Moon Party have a great and utterly safe time especially if they take appropriate safety measures. Generally speaking, acting with the same carefulness you would apply if you were going on a night out from your hometown should be adequate; nevertheless, you should consider adding extra precaution for those that you may know.
Because of the alcohol-fuelled uproar involved, accidents are bound to occur because the Health & Safety measures are virtually absent at Full Moon Parties! But first aid stations are positioned along the beach and also available in several dispensaries in town. Similarly, police do search inbound vehicles and people for prohibited drugs. Likewise, numerous Hawaiian kitted police officers patrol amidst the crowd looking for drug criminals. Therefore don't be stupid and get yourself into trouble. Buckets are authoritative enough.
Transportation of revelers with speedboats from Koh Samui can be dangerously congested; so make sure you wear a lifejacket. For safety purposes; stay in a Koh Phangan hotel.
If possible, do not move around with valuables and if you can't help it, carry them in a skin-tight outfit as pickpockets are not unidentified at these occasions.
