Celebrating Yi Peng Nov 6, 2025

Celebrating Yi Peng

What would you wish for if a single lantern could carry your heart"s desire skyward? Tonight, in northern Thailand, the Yi Peng festival offers that chance. This centuries-old Lanna tradition celebrates the 12th lunar month with glowing paper lanterns—khom loi—that are released to honor the Buddha. Each lantern is believed to carry away misfortune and light the way toward a brighter future. Children steady the lantern frames, elders whisper blessings, and the crowd pauses as hundreds of lights drift higher than the trees. Farther south, the same full moon watches over Loy Krathong, a sister festival, where candlelit rafts glide across the water.

© MR. ANUJAK JAIMOOK/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Nov 6, 2018A truly American monument
Nov 6, 2019Saffron in bloom
Nov 6, 2020Life in the slow lane
Nov 6, 2021World Numbat Day
Nov 6, 2022New York City Marathon
Nov 6, 2023Lake Pehoé, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
Nov 6, 2024Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jan 16, 2022Hot and Spicy Food Day
Feb 6, 2022Oymyakon, Russia
Mar 21, 2021A glimpse of the Blue Forest
Oct 15, 2019The globe skimmers return
Dec 18, 2023Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
Oct 27, 2021Pumpkin patch
Feb 18, 2018Great horned owl near Lake Tohopekaliga, Florida
Mar 11, 2021Welcome to the drainpipe of the Pacific
May 22, 2019The artists come to Venice
Mar 1, 2018Stari Most in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sep 25, 2024Sequoia National Parks 134th anniversary
Oct 29, 2018In search of a ‘great’ pumpkin
May 24, 2023Old Fortress, Corfu, Greece
May 2, 2024Craters of the Moon centennial
Sep 1, 2020National Mushroom Month
Apr 18, 2020National Park Week begins
Feb 17, 2022Flamenco dancers
Mar 19, 2021Life carries on, rising from a ship s skeleton
Sep 15, 2018A Latino art exhibition in Denver
Mar 24, 2021A whale of a picture
Mar 1, 2024Womens History Month
Dec 11, 2020Mountains fit for a queen
Aug 16, 2024International Roller Coaster Day
May 12, 2024Happy Mothers Day!
Oct 1, 2020A lunar lantern celebration
Jul 10, 2024Collared aracari in Costa Rica
Jul 20, 2019Bringing the moon to Earth
Apr 14, 2018It’s National Dolphin Day!
Mar 12, 2018It’s Napping Day
Feb 28, 2022Winter in England s Cotswolds