Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival
- 🎭 Carved beeswax
- 🏮 Buddhist Lent
- 📸 Extraordinary craft
- 👨👩👦 Family friendly
To mark the start of the three-month Buddhist Lent, Ubon Ratchathani carves beeswax into sculptures several metres high — nagas, deities, scenes from the Buddha's lives, rendered in relief so fine it reads as carved wood — mounts them on floats and parades them through the city. It is the most technically impressive craft festival in Thailand and it happens in a province almost no foreign itinerary includes.
Why candles
At Khao Phansa, monks enter a three-month retreat and remain at their temple through the rainy season. Lay people traditionally bring candles to the temple so the monks have light to study by — a simple act of merit that has, in Ubon, escalated into something extraordinary.
What were once ordinary candles became carved candles, then carved candles on carts, then multi-tonne wax sculptures built by teams over weeks and judged competitively between temples.
What to see
Two techniques dominate. In the carved style, a solid wax form is cut back by hand. In the moulded style, individual wax pieces are cast and applied to a base, building up relief in layers. The competition is taken extremely seriously and the best entries are genuinely remarkable pieces of work.
The floats assemble at Thung Si Mueang park before the parade, which is the best opportunity to see the detail. The procession itself moves through the city accompanied by Isaan music, dance troupes and drummers.
When it happens
The festival follows the lunar calendar, landing on Asalha Bucha and Khao Phansa, which puts it in July.
| Year | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 18–19 July | Tied to Asalha Bucha and Khao Phansa; city programme confirmed closer to the date |
| 2028 | July | — |
Smaller candle processions happen in towns across the country on the same days, but Ubon's is the one worth travelling for.
When to look
The candles are displayed in the park for a day or two before the parade, and this is when you can actually examine the carving up close. Arrive the day before the procession, not on the morning of it.
July is the rainy season in Isaan. Showers are heavy but usually short, and the parade goes ahead regardless. Bring something waterproof rather than rescheduling.
Ubon is a long way from the usual tourist route and accommodation is modest rather than scarce. Book ahead for the festival but do not expect resort standards.
Getting there
From Bangkok: Several daily flights to Ubon Ratchathani (UBP), which is the easiest major Isaan city to reach. The airport is close to the centre. 1 hr 10 min.
From Bangkok: Overnight sleepers run from Krung Thep Aphiwat to Ubon Ratchathani, arriving in the morning. 10–12 hrs.
From within Ubon: The displays gather at Thung Si Mueang park in the middle of town and the procession route is walkable throughout. Walkable.
Ubon makes a sensible base for the wider region. Pha Taem National Park with its prehistoric cliff paintings over the Mekong, and the Emerald Triangle where Thailand, Laos and Cambodia meet, are both within reach.
Where to see the carving
The parade is the event, but the work happens before it. In the fortnight beforehand, temples across Ubon have their teams working on the floats in the open, and you can walk in and watch.
Wat Phra That Nong Bua, Wat Sri Ubon Rattanaram and Wat Mahawanaram are among the temples that regularly enter, and asking at any of them will point you towards whoever is building that year.
Seeing a panel being cut back by hand, then seeing it pass you on a float two days later, is a better experience than the parade alone.
Beyond the festival
Ubon is the most accessible city in Isaan and makes a good base for the eastern edge of the country.
Pha Taem National Park has cliff paintings three thousand years old overlooking the Mekong, with a viewpoint over the river into Laos. Sam Phan Bok, the so-called Grand Canyon of Thailand, is a stretch of eroded rock pools in the riverbed, best in the dry season. Kaeng Tana and the Emerald Triangle where three borders meet are both within a day.
What it costs
The festival is free. Ubon has the broadest accommodation range in Isaan, from very cheap to genuinely comfortable, and rates rise only modestly for the festival.
July is low season across most of Thailand, so flights are at their cheapest and the city is not otherwise busy. For a festival of this quality, it is among the best-value trips on the calendar.
Why go
Because the craftsmanship is genuinely world class and almost entirely unknown outside Thailand, and because it is a merit-making festival rather than a party — calm, family-centred and welcoming in a way the bigger events are not.
It also pairs with the other Isaan festivals if your timing allows. Bun Bang Fai in May and Phi Ta Khon in June or July sit either side of it.