Golden stars fill the sky

The past few days has been filled with anticipation and preparation for the Loy Krathong festival.
Every where I went there were people making Krathongs (floating lights).






They are traditionally made from the trunk of a banana tree cut into 2" high pieces and then covered with intricately woven  pieces of banana leaves and flowers with joss sticks and a candle added.

There were literally hundreds of people making them along the riverside to sell

While the flower markets were packed with endless flowers for people to make their own
I enjoyed walking around seeing the different and ingenious types that people had made.

Dragons

Ice cream cones

These were made from white cabbages.

And these from empty drink cans

.

These Krathongs were made by school children and prizes were given.

They were beautiful and so intricate

In the grounds of a temple they are making one of many huge ones that are carried through the streets as part of the parade.







On the night of the full moon the ritual is simple, one lights the joss sticks and candle, makes a wish and place it into the river and let it float with the current.
Its flame is said to signify longevity, fulfillment of wishes and release from sins.
At the same time, thousands of lanterns will be lit and sent drifting across the sky like golden stars making for a wonderful spectacle.
Along side, an almost constant firework display by children and adults alike, from fire crackers to huge loud ones sent off across the river (no rules here)
And that is what I witnessed last night, thousands and thousands of  Thai people coming out to perform and enjoy this ritual.
Many were in families, with small babies and children, some for their first ever Loy Krathong

This lady was happy to pose with her beautiful Granddaughter.

I was one of just a handful of foreigners among them but it was a privilege to be part of it.
I suppose its as near to our Christmas as anything, where we all come together and do the same thing at the same time.
The major difference is that here it is done outside en mass in the still, warm evening air,.
Christmas day is pretty much done behind closed doors, and we mostly don't get to share much of it with our friends, instead having a quiet affair inside a home.
It's the weather of course that makes all the difference.

It was impossible to capture the spectacle of the lanterns by photo as they were so far away but it was truly magical. There were literally thousands drifting high into the sky.
I walked around for almost 6 hours soaking up the atmosphere, noting that there was no rowdiness, pushing or shoving despite there being thousands of people on the streets.
The the whole affair was without alcohol

I guess the penalty is enough to put people off!

And so, the river was now becoming a moving picture of thousands of carefully made Krathongs, carrying with them wishes and taking away bad fortune. People flocked to the river where  bamboo rafts had ben made and tethered to the waters edge so that they could get right to the water to float their Krathong. I watched as families and couples and groups of friends lit them and said their wishes and sent them off with the current.

Two young children hold out their fireworks on the river bank, hundreds were doing the same, many were loud banging ones, the noise went on way into the night and started again early this morning

As I wandered, I was practicing my newly learned Thai, managing to say hello and that the Krathong festival was beautiful, most responded with a similar greeting and a smile (and probably thinking 'silly cow!')

Written on11/11/11.....