If you’re in Nakhon Phanom town on the full moon of the 11th lunar month (around October), you’ll be swept up in the Huea Fai festival, featuring a procession of large boats adorned with twinkling lights on the Mekong. The lights form images of the Buddha, chedis, flowers, elephants and more, all part of an ancient tradition that signifies welcoming the Buddha back to earth after he’d spent the rainy season in a heavenly realm.