Float parades and beauty pageants—the Thai Buddhist festival of Candle Festival kicks off on the 20th

By MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network, reported and compiled by Li Xinyi

Among all Buddhist festivals in Thailand, apart from Buddha’s Birthday, the “Candle Festival” is arguably the most celebrated. This year, the Candle Festival will be held on a grand scale from July 20 to August 5 in Ubon Ratchathani in the northeast, and will invite artisans and artists from various countries to participate in “candle carving.” On the day, a variety of exquisitely carved candles of different shapes and sizes made from beeswax will be unveiled. These works will be placed on floats and paraded through the city for display, before being brought to local temples.

With the start of the rainy season, Thailand’s Buddhist Lent also begins, during which monks devote themselves to studying Buddhism and meditation. Monks must stay in the temples and not go out, observing a three-month period of abstinence. People devoutly participate in prayer and merit-making activities during this time, offering a wide array of delicious food, sweets, and daily necessities to the temple monks. Other essentials such as candles, lanterns, and oil lamps are considered indispensable, as people believe that light can illuminate the bodies and souls of the monks.

The main activities on the day of this year’s Candle Festival include the ceremony where the Thai King presents the royal candle, merit-making offerings, traditional costume parades by local residents carrying candles, the Candle Queen beauty pageant, candle carving competitions, or traditional northeastern food tastings, dances, and other folk performances.

Meanwhile, residents of Sakon Nakhon Province also have their unique merit-making ceremony every year from July 14 to 16, known as Tak Bat Dok Mai or the Flower Offering Festival. This ceremony takes place at the famous Phra Buddhabat Woramahaviharn Temple, an ancient temple that enshrines the Buddha’s footprint. Here, in addition to traditional offerings, flowers that bloom during the Lenten period are also presented. Early in the morning after the offerings, young men and women take the opportunity to pick Dok Khao Pansa flowers (Lent flowers) before the candle and flower float parade begins. Devout Buddhists line up along both sides of the street from the stupa of the seven-tiered temple, forming a long human passage that winds back to the temple, allowing hundreds of monks and novice monks to pass through as offerings are presented. The monks slowly walk back to the temple and then present the items to the Buddha. After the entire ceremony concludes, worshippers sprinkle holy water on the feet of the monks and novices, believing that this will bring them blessings and wash away their sins. For more details, please visit: www.thailandwax.com/en/index.php.

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