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:

Babbling on and on
29 Jul 2025International Tiger Day
15 Apr 2025World Art Day
8 Nov 2023Llyn Padarn, Snowdonia, Wales
A day for cousins of every stripe
A triumphant pose
1 Nov 2023Haut-Barr Castle
To the infinite and back
27 Mar 2025World Theatre Day
23 Sep 2023Autumnal equinox
14 Dec 2023Boreal owl
In a world of their own
31 May 2024Gunnerside, Yorkshire Dales National Park, England
22 Mar 2025Happy World Water Day!
22 Feb 2024Bathing boxes at Brighton Beach, Australia
26 Sep 2023Venice Skatepark, Los Angeles, California
16 Nov 2025A traboule in Lyon, France
Christmas in the cloister
7 Dec 2025A pine forest in Alsace, France
Cool bloomers
20 Oct 2025International Sloth Day
11 Jul 2024World Population Day
The fjords of Italy
This ‘snow’ never melts
The sprout with amazing potential
A day for giving
Where the humpback whale sings
22 Jan 2025Ad-Deir, Petra, Jordan
26 Jun 2025Horse Head Rock, New South Wales, Australia
1 Sep 2025Rock layers in Zumaia, Basque Country, Spain