Thailand 2026: Festivals and Events Dates, Timings, and Locations

List Of Festivals in Thailand With Dates 2026

Here’s the list of cultural and national festivals celebrated in Thailand. Plan your Thailand trip around these festivals to get a deeper insight into the vibrant culture of Thailand.  

Celebrate Thailand: The Top 10 Festivals and Events You Can't Miss 

Thailand in 2026 is great and exciting during Thailand events and Thailand festivals. The top festivals and events in Thailand are the ones that should not be missed, as visiting these festivals, you will get special moments that you will remember for a lifetime.

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Thailand Water Festival Songkran

This is a water splashing festival and is a celebration to start the Buddhist New Year. During this festival, water is used to cleanse and purify misfortunes from the past year and give blessings for prosperity. Immerse yourself at Thailand Water Festival Songkran and enjoy by sprinkling water on the heads of your closed ones to highlight gratitude and respect. 

• Date: 13th April- 15th April, 2026

• Location: All across Thailand cities like Phuket, Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

• Things To Do At Thailand: - 

1. Visit a Buddhist Temple. 

2. Bathe the pictures of Buddha statues.

3. Spring clean water on elders and show respect to them. 

Also Read: Top Restaurants In Thailand 2025: Famous Foods And Location

Loi Krathong and Yee Peng Lantern Festival 

This is a three days festival well-known as Thailand light festival and is celebrated to gather people together at rivers, lakes, canals to honor the goddess of water. During these beautiful lantern festivals in Thailand, you will be mesmerized by the sky lanterns flying in the night sky with the lotus shaped baskets including flowers and candles that float on the rivers at night. When attending this popular festival, you can enjoy the live music, street food, traditional dance performances, fireworks and parades. 

• Date: 24th November - 25th November, 2026

• Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand

• Things To Do At Thailand: -

1. Decorate your homes with lanterns and candles. 

2. Visit the temples to be involved in monks' prayers. 

Phuket Vegetarian Festival 

This is a colourful festival celebrated annually on the 9th lunar month according to the Chinese calendar. The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is combined with food stalls providing Chinese food and vegan Thai, sacred rituals and more. In Thailand, this festival is mainly known as Nine Emperor Gods Festival. The Phuket Vegetarian festival's main purpose to celebrate has been to promote compassion and joy adhering to a vegetarian lifestyle. 

• Date: 11th October- 19th October, 2026

• Location: Jui Tui Shrine, Bang Neow Shrine and Kathu Shrine. 

• Things To Do At Thailand: -

1. Enjoy street festivities and rituals including spikes in the festival. 

2. Enjoy the light shows at the vegetarian festival. 

Also Read: Oman 2025 Festivals & Events : Dates, Timings & Locations

Candle Festival Thailand (Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival)

What about getting a spectacular experience at the Thailand festivals 2026? You can get a magical experience by celebrating the candle festival in Thailand full of colourful parades of candle wax sculptures including Thai traditional music and dance performances. The Ubon Ratchathani festival is tempting for all as it celebrates two significant Buddhist events and these are Asahna Bucha and Khao Phansa. 

• Date: This will take place from 24th November to 25th November in 2026.

• Location: Thung Si Mueang Park in Central Ubon Ratchathani. 

• Things To Do At Thailand:-

1. Visit the temples and look how the candles were developed and carved. 

2. Learn about the traditional techniques used to carve the candles. 

3. Explore the beautiful artworks highlighting Ramakien epic, Lord Buddha’s life and mythical Himmapan creatures.

Makha Bucha Day

The Makha Bucha festival is the major Buddhist festival in a year and always takes place on full moon day on the third lunar month. This festival celebration practices Lord Buddha’s love to people where Buddhists are empowered to show gratitude by the moral acts. At this special event, around 1250 enlightened monks gather together to hear the Buddha’s teachings and learn about important things. 

• Date: 3rd March, 2026

• Location: The festival is celebrated across different cities including Pattaya, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. 

• Things To Do At Thailand:-

1. Get indulge in merit making activities like meditation and chanting. 

2. Attend the famous customs of Makha Bucha which is the Wian Thian ceremony. 

Visakha Bucha Day

For all the Buddhists, Visakha Bucha Day festival celebrated in Thailand is important and this festival is organised on the full moon day on every sixth lunar month. The Visakha Bucha Day is beyond a religious event as it leads to spiritual growth and shows the values of peace and harmony. The celebration of Visakha Bucha Day is integrated with environmental efforts, activities highlighting societal peace and doing interfaith discussions. 

• Date: 1st May, 2026

• Location: All across Thailand

• Things To Do At Thailand: -

1. Visit temples to give alms to Buddhist monks.

2. Donate food and money to others. 

3. Join Buddhist activities. 

Asanha Bucha Day

Asanha Bucha Day is celebrated across all Buddhist temples in Thailand. Many people in Thailand return to their ancestral homes to donate to temples and listen to sermons. On the Asanha Bucha Day, the main thing that is donated is the candles to the wat for Asanha Bucha featuring candles and this is organised at various towns in Thailand. When you attend this festival, you will get to see the monks chanting mantras and preaching the sermon of the Buddha, the parades around the town with their arm bowls. 

• Date: 20th July, 2026

• Location: Buddhist Temples Across Thailand

• Things To Do At Thailand: -

1. Listen to Buddhist Sermons.
2. Give alms to temples
3. Participate in wian tian 

Boon Bang Fai (Rocket Festival)

Do you want to experience the display of home made rockets in the sky as an appeal for rain? If yes, then Thailand Boon Bang Fai, Rocket festival is the one for your experience. This great and traditional festival is celebrated to bring the rains so that rice plantation can be initiated. In this special event, people from Southeastern Issan come together in Yasothon Province and you can expect the amazing cultural performances by students from different cities and the parades. 

• Date: 8th May, 2026

• Location: Yasothon, Thailand 

• Things To Do At Thailand: -

1. Traditional dance performance

2. Huge homemade rockets lit up in the sky

3. Rocket competitions

King’s Birthday (Father’s Day)

Showing respect to your father is one of the best things one can do, and Father’s Day is one of the best ways to show respect and celebrate. On Father’s Day in Thailand, canna flowers are traditionally offered to them, and there are many families that participate in the ceremony to show their love for their fathers.

• Date: 22nd July, 2026
  

• Location: Different cities of Thailand like Bangkok and other cities as well. 

• Things To Do At Thailand:-

1. Participate in activities that will honor your fathers. 

2. Have a taste of famous and delicious meals. 

Chinese New Year

In Thailand, the Chinese new year is celebrated with full enthusiasm and there is no doubt that Chinese new year is the major festival of Thailand. This festival is celebrated around 2-3 days where numerous people come from China and from Southeast Asia as well. At Chinese New Year, the streets are combined with dragon dancers, acrobats, food stalls, lanterns and Chinese calligraphy banners. On the last day of this event, a special lantern festival is celebrated where people hang Chinese paper lanterns from their homes. 

• Date: 17th February, 2026

• Location: Yaowaraj, Bangkok, Thailand

• Things To Do At Thailand: -

1. Enjoy the traditional performances and parades organised at the festival. 

2. Attend the lion dance show or dragon dance in the Chinese new year. 

Read More: Pattaya Nightlife

A Tourist's Guide to Celebrating Festivals in Thailand

There are top things to do in Thailand during festivals and the best places to visit in Thailand for festivals include Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and more. 

1. Visiting Thailand in 2026, you should look at the stunning floral displays of the flower festival in Chiang Mai. 

2. Watch lanterns floating into the night sky during Loy Krathong festival. 

3. If you are visiting Thailand temples during the festivals, you must dress modestly and respect the traditions of Thailand. 

Conclusion

A trip to Thailand will not be completed in 2026 if you don’t visit the cities during festivals and other events. When planning your visit to Thailand, you must find out the dates of popular festivals and plan the trip accordingly. There are many things to do for enjoyment whether you are visiting Bangkok, Chiang Mai or some other, all these places organize festivals beautifully and present the things that you will remember forever. 

FAQs

Q1. What is the most famous festival of Thailand ?

Ans. The most famous festival of Thailand is the Loi Krathong celebrated on the full moon night. 

Q2. Is Thailand cheap to visit during Festive Time?

Ans. The festival time in Thailand is the peak season and there may be variations in the flight prices in Thailand. In comparison with off-peak seasons and months without festivals, the flight prices may be a little higher.