The second weekend of May, and best seen in Yasothon, north-east Thailand. Prior to the annual monsoons, Northeast villagers construct gigantic rockets to fire into the sky to 'ensure' plentiful rain during the forthcoming rice season. The Rocket Festival is traditionally a period for letting off steam before ardous field work begins in earnest, and features beauty parades, folk dances, ribald and high-spirited revelry before the rockets are ceremoniously launched.