Public holiday
Visakha Puja Chanting, religious instruction, and candlelit processions highlight this temple festival in celebration of the birth, enlightenment and death of the Lord Buddha.
Boun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival) With its origins in pre-Buddhist rain-invoking ceremonies, this festival now coincides with the Laos Visakha Puja celebrations. Parades, songs, dances and partying all lead to an explosive climax as huge, ornate, homemade bamboo rockets are blessed and fired into the skies to invite the rains. Rocket-makers earn both merit and honour if their creations fly high. This dramatic festival is also celebrated in Northeast Thailand.