Thai Festivals 2026: Bangkok's Loy Krathong Venues

The biggest date left on the Thai festivals 2026 calendar is Loy Krathong, and Bangkok has now published its programme. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is running the city's festival from 17 to 29 November under the banner Preserving Thai Traditions Along the Rattanakosin Waterways, across five official venues on the Chao Phraya River and the canals to the north. The full moon itself — the night almost everyone actually floats a krathong — falls on 24 November 2026.

That thirteen-night spread matters for Thailand vacation planning. Loy Krathong is usually treated as a single evening, but Bangkok has stretched it either side. Clip the start or end of the window and you will still see something; be here on the 24th and you are there for the main event, along with most of the city.

Bangkok's five Loy Krathong venues and dates

The five sites are split between the historic riverside and the residential north, so there is no single crush point. Dates differ by venue, and in two cases the city's listing and the Tourism Authority of Thailand's do not agree.

• Wat Saket, the Golden Mount — 17 to 29 November. The city's opening event, alongside ceremonies honouring the Buddha relics at Borom Banphot from 17 to 26 November, with the temple's annual fair on the same nights.
• Rama VIII Bridge, Bang Phlat — the Thonburi-side riverside venue, listed by the BMA as 17 to 29 November and by TAT as 16 to 25 November.
• Phra Sumen Fort, Phra Nakhon — 23 to 25 November, on the river at Santichaiprakarn Park, ten minutes' walk from Khao San Road.
• Prem Prachakorn Canal, by Don Mueang Police Station — 23 to 25 November, run by four northern district offices together.
• Prem Prachakorn Canal at Wat Samian Nari — 23 to 25 November in the BMA's listing, 24 November only in TAT's.

Mahakan Fort: the free pick of Thai festivals 2026 in Bangkok

Separately from those five, the BMA's Culture, Sports and Tourism Department runs a three-night festival at Mahakan Fort called The Enchanting Waterways of Rattanakosin, 23 to 25 November, 5pm to 10pm. For a visitor with one free evening in the old town, this is the pick of the programme.

The line-up is unusually traditional: khon masked dance drama, likay, lam tat folk singing, hun krabok puppetry and pong lang ensembles. There are workshops in making krathongs from natural materials, flower garlands and Thai sweets, a period-style market with eight shops, a children's Noppamas pageant and a large krathong floated as the centrepiece. Traditional dress can be borrowed free under the theme Wear Chud Thai to Loy Krathong — a rare chance to photograph Thai culture from inside rather than from the kerb. Running the full 17 to 29 November is a walking route linking Wat Saket, Wat Ratchanatdaram, Wat Thepthidaram and the fort, all within about a kilometre.

Getting there, and what the night costs

None of the venues charges admission, Mahakan Fort included. The spending is on transport, a krathong and dinner.

For Wat Saket and Mahakan Fort, take the MRT Blue Line to Sam Yot and walk about fifteen minutes northeast; on festival nights that beats any taxi. For Phra Sumen Fort, the Chao Phraya Express Boat to Phra Athit pier drops you two minutes away, and orange-flag boats cost well under 20 baht a trip — fares changed twice in 2026, so read the board at the pier. Rama VIII Bridge is the awkward one: it sits on the Bang Phlat bank with no rail station, so budget for a Grab or Bolt and expect surge pricing from about 7pm.

A street-vendor krathong runs 30 to 100 baht depending on size. Riverside restaurants and dinner cruises sell out weeks ahead for 24 November and price accordingly, and hotel rates in Phra Nakhon climb for that week — the single biggest cost difference between arriving on the 24th and arriving on the 27th.

Krathong rules: what you can and cannot float

Of everything on the Thai festivals 2026 calendar, Loy Krathong leaves the heaviest mark on the water, and Bangkok has spent years pushing it towards natural materials. The rules are now firm. Foam krathongs are prohibited. Bread floats are discouraged in park ponds, which are closed systems where bread rots rather than feeds anything. Banana trunk, banana leaf and flowers are what the city wants, under the slogan one family, one krathong.

It is working: of the 514,590 krathongs collected after the 2024 festival, 98.39 per cent were natural and only 1.61 per cent foam, a fall of nearly a fifth on the year before. The BMA also runs an online floating service at greener.bangkok.go.th. Sky lanterns, fireworks and alcohol are all banned in the city's public parks — if releasing a lantern is on your list, that is a licensed Yi Peng event in Chiang Mai, not a Bangkok one.

Loy Krathong beyond Bangkok on a Thailand itinerary

Celebrations run from 15 to 29 November nationwide, which makes this the easiest of the Thai festivals 2026 to route around on a wider Thailand itinerary.

• Sukhothai — 15 to 24 November in the Historical Park, the most photographed version in the country.
• Tak — Loi Krathong Sai, 21 to 24 November, an illuminated procession of a thousand linked floats on the Ping River.
• Chiang Mai — the CAD Khom Loi sky lantern festival on 24 and 25 November at Mae On, the legal way to see lanterns released.
• Chon Buri — Laem Chabang on 23 and 24 November, Bang Lamung on the 24th, an easy festival night if you are already working through things to do in Pattaya.
• Phuket — Loi Krathong by the Sea at Saphan Hin, 16 to 25 November, the pick if your trip is built around the Thailand islands.

Practical tips for Loy Krathong in Bangkok

• Arrive before 7pm on 24 November. Riverside access roads clog early and the walk in lengthens every half hour after dark.
• Buy the krathong at the venue. Vendors line the approach roads, prices are similar, and banana leaf does not travel well.
• Take the river or the MRT. Both run through the congestion rather than sitting in it.
• Eat first. Queues at the water are longest from 8pm to 10pm, and the Bangkok street food stalls around Wat Saket and Phra Athit are part of the night anyway.
• Carry small notes. Krathong vendors and market stalls are cash businesses.
• Pick one venue and stay. Trying to see two in an evening means spending the festival in traffic.

For anyone planning travel to Thailand this month, Loy Krathong is the easiest cultural event in the calendar to attend well: free, outdoors, in the cool season and genuinely local. Of everything on the Thai festivals 2026 list it also asks the least of a traveller — one evening, one float and a riverbank.

Start with our Bangkok travel guide for neighbourhoods and transport, check dates against our Loy Krathong festival guide, and see our Pattaya and Jomtien guide if the Chon Buri celebrations suit your route better.

Source: TAT Newsroom, 5 November 2026 — Loi Krathong 2026 lights up Thailand's rivers and historic cities (publication date not stated); The Nation Thailand, 31 October 2026 — Bangkok plans Loy Krathong at 5 sites from November 17 (publication date not stated); The Globe, 31 October 2026 — Bangkok unveils 5 key venues for Loy Krathong celebrations (publication date not stated); The Nation Thailand, 22 October 2025 — Bangkok opens 33 parks for Loy Krathong celebrations (publication date not stated).