Phi Ta Khon Festival
The Phi Ta Khon Festival (the Ghost Festival) is the most common name for a group of festivals held in the Dan Sai district of the Loei province in rural Thailand. The events take place over three days this July 1st through July 3rd.
The Phi Ta Khon Festival is called Boon Luang; Boon Luang is composed of a number of individual festivals which include Phi Ta Khon, the Ghost Festival; the Rocket Festival; and Bun Pra Wate, a merit-making ceremony.
Also known as the Thailand Ghost Festival, the Phi Ta Khon Festival is a much anticipated and highly regarded event in Thailand. Revelers and participants will don ghost masks and costumes made of bamboo and wicker and walk through town in the annual ghost parade which is more to the point a rain making ceremony that ushers in the beginning of rainy season.
The Phi Ta Khon Festival is a well attended event that brings together making merit, having a party, and reenacting the folklore of the reincarnation of King Vessandorn, the Buddha to be. Buddhist legend has it that the townspeople were angry that the charitable King gave away two precious white elephants to another King who asked for them. They then forcibly exiled him into the forest. The angels and spirits in the forest admired his unconditional generosity so they formed a procession to escort him back to rule the town. The townspeople became overjoyed with his epiphany and so the legend was born and has since given way to the annual Phi Ta KhonFestival.
Photo Courtesy Tourism Authority of Thailand
The Phi Ta Khon Festival will run for three days and the first day will be the masked procession of ghosts. The celebrants will put on fancy ghost masks and costumes which are handmade from colorfully painted bamboo rice steamers and decorated with colorful strips of cloth sewn together. The most common appearance of Phi Ta Khon Festival ghosts is the over sized head and long hooked nose, though you can also see many versions of the ghosts with long teeth or white face. Along the road, you can get spooked and teased by these playful ghosts and you’ll readily find yourself becoming a part of the joyful spirit.
On the second day of the Phi Ta Khon Festival the villagers form up another procession that dances along the streets into a temple and then firing off homemade bamboo rockets to incite the gods to give rain and a bountiful harvest. In some areas there will be competitions for the best mask, costumes and dancing with the winners of each contest receiving a coveted brass plaque.
On the last day of the Phi Ta Khon Festival, the villagers will meet up at a local temple to listen and recite the sacred thirteen sermons of Buddha, chanted by local monks. To mark the end of the event, the ghosts then take off their masks and costumes and shelve them for the next year’s celebration.
Phi Ta Khon Festival 2011 Schedule of Events
A Clean Food Festival – Good Taste Food Festival will be held at the evening market from 19.00 onwards starting on June 30th and running throughout the entire Phi Ta Khon Festival.
For more information on the Phi Ta Khon Festival you can contact the Tourism Authority of Thailand in the following ways:
Tourism Authority of Thailand, Loei Office
Tel: +66 (0) 4281 2812
Fax: +66 (0) 4281 1480
E-mail: tatloei@tat.or.th
For more information on upcoming Thailand Events and Festivals like the Phi Ta Khon Festival please refer to the Thailand Events Calender.
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