Lanna Festivals 2027: When to Go and How to Join In

When are the Lanna festivals in 2027? It is a harder question than it looks: most merit festivals in northern Thailand follow the moon, so their dates move every year. Locals have a word for going out to a festival: aeo poi (แอ่วฯพอฯยฯ, Kham Mueang reading aeo poi). A poi (พอฯยฯ, poi) is a celebration or a fair.

This guide puts the 2027 dates of the great pa-we-ni (ปาเวณี, pa-we-ni), the Lanna traditions, in one place, calculated with the Moradok Lanna calendar. It tells you when to go, what happens, and how to join in as a welcome guest.

The 2027 Lanna festival calendar for travellers

See every month of the year in the calendar below; tap a month for its holy days and key dates.

Pi Mai Mueang 2027: Songkran the Lanna way

Pi Mai Mueang (ปีให่มฯเมิอฯง, Kham Mueang reading pi mai mueang) is the Lanna New Year, the northern Songkran. Most visitors know it as a water fight, but locals count the New Year over several days, and each day has its own name and its own things to do. Our Lanna calendar gives these days for 2027:

The public holidays for Songkran 2027 are Tuesday 13 to Thursday 15 April, as already announced in the Bank of Thailand's list of bank holidays for 2027 (the cabinet may add extra days later). That is when the streets are busiest. The Lanna rites themselves carry on through the 16th to the 18th, when there are far fewer visitors.

What you can see and join in these days:

• Sand chedis, chedi sai (เจดียฯซายฯ, Kham Mueang reading che-di sai): mounds of sand shaped like chedis that villagers build in the temple grounds and then decorate with banners on Wan Phaya Wan. Planting the banners is called tan tung (ทาฯนฯทุง, tan tung), offering a tung.
• Dam hua (ดำห฿วฯ, dam hua): asking forgiveness and blessings from elders with turmeric and som poi water. It is a family and community rite; visitors can join when a community or temple invites them. Read the steps in Dam Hua.
• Buddha images in procession for people to bathe. In Chiang Mai the procession passes through the old city, with people waiting along the road to pour water.

Yi Peng 2027: lamps, lanterns and the lantern rules

Yi Peng (ยี่เพงฯ, Kham Mueang reading yi peng) is the full moon of the 2nd Lanna month. In 2027 it falls on Saturday 13 November. The dictionary says that Loy Krathong (ลอฯยฯ, loi krathong) is held on this same night; locals call it the pa-we-ni yi peng.

The heart of a Lanna Yi Peng is light offered to the Buddha. People light phang pha-tip (ผังฯผทีปฯ, Kham Mueang reading phang pha-tip), small clay dishes of wax or oil, at temples and at home. Lanterns that rise into the sky come in two kinds: the kom fai (โค฿มฯไฟ, kom fai), released at night, and the kom loi (โค฿มฯลอฯยฯ, kom loi), also called wao hom, a smoke balloon released in the daytime.

The best way for a visitor is to watch the lanterns at a permitted event, light a lamp at a temple, or float a krathong on the river. For every Kham Mueang word of the festival, read Yi Peng Words, and for the whole month, Duean Yi.

Poy Sang Long: the Tai novice ordination

A sang long (ส่างฯลอฯง, Kham Mueang reading sang long) is a Tai Yai (Shan) boy about to be ordained as a novice, dressed as a prince. Poy Sang Long is held in the school holidays, around March and April, both in Mae Hong Son and in the Tai Yai communities of Chiang Mai. Research by Phra Athit Phukham and colleagues (2020) says it can start from the 3rd Tai month (March) and run to the 6th month (around May), and that each temple sets its own dates: there is no fixed day.

If you want to go, ask the temple or the provincial tourism office well ahead. In the procession you will see each sang long riding on the shoulders of a ta pae, the minder who carries him throughout, under a golden umbrella. It is a beautiful sight, but it is a family ordination: ask before taking close-up photos and do not block the procession. Read the whole festival in Poy Sang Long.

Other merit festivals worth a visit in 2027

• Si Peng, Friday 22 January (the 15th waxing day of the 4th month): villagers make tan khao mai (ทาฯนฯเขั้าไห่มฯ, Kham Mueang reading tan khao mai), offering the newly harvested rice before eating it themselves. Read Tan Khao Mai.
• Visakha Bucha, wan wi-sa-kha pu-cha (วันฯวิสาขบูชา, wan wi-sa-kha pu-cha), falls on Thursday 20 May (the 15th waxing day of the 8th month).
• The walk up Doi Suthep: Phra Anuwat Anuwattano (2022) explains that Chiang Mai people walk up Doi Suthep every year on the eve of this full moon. In 2027 that is the night of Wednesday 19 May (the 14th waxing day of the 8th month). If you join, bring good shoes, water and a torch. Read the story in King Kue Na.
• Inthakhin, or sai khan dok (ไส่ขันฯดอฯก, Kham Mueang reading sai khan dok), honours Chiang Mai's city pillar at Wat Chedi Luang. The dictionary says khao in-tha-khin (เขั้า±นทฯขี) begins in the waning half of the 8th northern month and ends in the waxing half of the 9th. In 2027 it begins on Tuesday 1 June (the 12th waning day of the 8th month) and ends on Monday 7 June (the 3rd waxing day of the 9th month). Some sources count one day later: Wednesday 2 June (the 13th waning day of the 8th month) to Tuesday 8 June (the 4th waxing day of the 9th month). By the custom of the Inthakhin vihara, women pay respect to the pillar from outside. Read Sai Khan Dok.
• Khao wa-sa (เขั้าหลฯามฯวัªา, Kham Mueang reading khao wa-sa), the start of the rains retreat, is on Monday 19 July (the 1st waning day of the 10th month), the day after Asalha Bucha on Sunday 18 July.
• Tan Kuay Salak, tan kuai salak (ทาฯนฯกวฯยฯสๆลฯากฯ, Kham Mueang reading tan kuai sa-lak), runs through the whole 12th northern month, 1–30 September 2027, and each temple chooses its own day. Some large temples raise splendid salak yom trees. Read Tan Kuay Salak.
• Ok wa-sa (ออฯกวัสสฯา, Kham Mueang reading ok wa-sa), the end of the rains retreat, is on Friday 15 October (the 15th waxing day of Duean Kiang). The Kathin robe-offering season follows, until Yi Peng.

Every holy day of the year, and the bad days of each month, are in Lanna Calendar 2027.

Festival etiquette for visitors

Most Lanna festivals take place at temples, and many fall on a wan sin (วันฯสีลฯฯ, Kham Mueang reading wan sin), a Buddhist holy day. Locals welcome guests who show respect for the place.

• Dress modestly: cover shoulders and knees in a temple, and take off your shoes before entering a hall. More in Lanna Temple Etiquette.
• Ask before you take photos, especially of family rites such as dam hua, ordinations, and monks during a ceremony.
• Do not block a procession: watch from the roadside, and do not walk across the path of a Buddha image being carried.
• Follow the event's rules, such as lantern times and areas, and the rules of each temple hall.
• Greet people in Kham Mueang: "sawatdi chao" or "khop jai chao" brings a smile at every festival. Learn how in How to Greet in Chiang Mai.

Summary

• Lanna merit festivals follow the moon, so the dates move every year; this guide gives the 2027 dates from the Moradok Lanna calendar.
• Pi Mai Mueang has public holidays on 13–15 April 2027, but the Lanna rites carry on to Wan Phaya Wan on 16 April, Wan Pak Pi and Wan Pak Duean.
• Yi Peng falls on Saturday 13 November 2027; lanterns may be released only at the times and places the province allows.
• Poy Sang Long is held around March and April, and each temple sets its own dates, so ask first.
• Go as a good guest: dress modestly, ask before photos and follow the event's rules.

Look up more festival words in the Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai), and before you set off, read 10 Kham Mueang Words That Make Locals Love You.

Sources

• Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai): แอ่วปอย · ปอย · ปี๋ใหม่เมือง · ยี่เป็ง · ลอยกระทง · เข้าอินทะขีน
• Moradok Lanna calendar: moradoklanna.com/calendar (lunar dates and the Pi Mai Mueang days of 2027)
• ธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย [Bank of Thailand]. (2026). ประกาศธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย ที่ 37/2569 เรื่อง วันหยุดตามประเพณีของสถาบันการเงินและสถาบันการเงินเฉพาะกิจ ประจำปี พ.ศ. 2570 [Announcement 37/2569: bank holidays for 2027]. In Thai.
• Thai PBS Verify. (2025, 6 November). Clip of "sky lanterns" looks so stunning that netizens thought it was AI (Chiang Mai's lantern measures for 2025).
• ศูนย์บรรณสารและสื่อการศึกษา มหาวิทยาลัยแม่ฟ้าหลวง [Mae Fah Luang University Library]. (n.d.). ประเพณีปีใหม่เมือง [The Pi Mai Mueang tradition]. In Thai.
• พิพิธภัณฑ์เรือนโบราณล้านนา มหาวิทยาลัยเชียงใหม่ [Lanna Traditional House Museum, Chiang Mai University]. (2022). ประเพณีสงกรานต์ล้านนา ปี พ.ศ. 2565 [Lanna Songkran 2022]. In Thai.
• พระอนุวัฒน์ อนุวตฺตโน [Phra Anuwat Anuwattano]. (2022). วิเคราะห์ประเพณีสรงน้ำพระธาตุ: ศึกษาเฉพาะกรณีเตียวขึ้นดอยสุเทพ จังหวัดเชียงใหม่ [An analysis of the relic-bathing tradition: the walk up Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai]. Panya Journal 29(3). In Thai.
• พระอาทิตย์ ภู่คำ และคณะ [Phra Athit Phukham and colleagues]. (2020). แนวทางการอนุรักษ์ประเพณีปอยส่างลองในเขตอำเภอเมือง จังหวัดเชียงใหม่ [Guidelines for preserving the Poy Sang Long tradition in Mueang District, Chiang Mai]. Journal of Buddhist Studies 11(1). In Thai.
• Moradok Lanna articles with further sources: Wan Phaya Wan · Dam Hua · Sai Khan Dok · Poy Sang Long