Yi Peng lantern festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand 15 Nov 2024

Yi Peng lantern festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand

As twilight descends today, Chiang Mai, Thailand"s second-largest city, will come alive with thousands of glowing lanterns for Yi Peng. Held on the full moon of the second month of the Lanna lunar calendar—a calendar that dates to the medieval Lanna Kingdom of Northern Thailand—this celebration signifies the removal of negativity and the embrace of new beginnings. The highlight of the festival is the release of "khom loi" or "khom loy"—floating paper lanterns—into the night sky, creating a beautiful sight as the heavens fill with a sea of warm, golden lights. Locals and visitors gather around temples and palaces to send their wishes skyward, hoping for good fortune in the year to come.

© tampatra/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

All going swimmingly
15 Nov 2023Rapa Valley in Sarek National Park, Sweden
15 Nov 2025Irohazaka Road in autumn, Nikko, Tochigi, Japan

More Desktop Wallpapers:

1 Sep 2024Totally Thames Festival, London
28 Feb 2026Oloupena Falls, island of Molokai, Hawaii, United States
Christmas flowers
A cantilevered window to the past
10 Jun 2025Everglades National Park, Florida, United States
5 Jun 2025World Environment Day
Stop and smell the Sakura
Beauty by the bay
24 Jun 2024Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia
29 Dec 2025St Gregory Church in Ani Ruins, Kars, Türkiye
Happy 70th to the North York Moors
Passing with flying colours
5 Oct 2024Follow the teacher!
Where did you drop the fish, son?
10 Dec 2024Lands End, Cornwall, England
Check out The Magic City of Miami
2 Mar 2026Harbour and longtail boats at Ko Samui, Thailand
26 Jun 2025Horse Head Rock, New South Wales, Australia
A scented sea of purple
22 Jul 2025Badlands National Park, South Dakota, United States
Castle in the sky
Farewell Ma’am
9 Dec 2025Guanaco, Punta Norte, Valdés Peninsula, Argentina
Check out these ‘sea cows’
A beacon in the golden light
Twinkle twinkle, little bugs
20 Dec 2025Christmas star lanterns, Germany
7 Nov 2023Kirkilai lakes, Biržai Regional Park, Lithuania
Go with the flow
8 Nov 2023Llyn Padarn, Snowdonia, Wales