Celebrating Yi Peng 6 Nov 2025

What would you wish for if a single lantern could carry it skyward? Tonight, in northern Thailand, the Yi Peng festival offers that chance. This centuries-old Lanna tradition celebrates the twelfth lunar month with glowing paper lanterns—khom loi—that are released to honour 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

The fjords of Italy
6 Nov 2023Lago Pehoé, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
6 Nov 2024Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington, United States

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Incan ingenuity
20 May 2025World Bee Day
27 Feb 2026International Polar Bear Day
Don’t look down!
13 Jul 2024International Rock Day
9 Dec 2023Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona, USA
Rugged rocks and ancient history
8 Jan 2025Great Wall of China
This blue succulent has spirit
Farewell Ma’am
6 Mar 2024Wahclella Falls, Oregon, USA
26 May 2026Lupine flowers in bloom, Northern California, United States
20 Oct 2023International Sloth Day
29 Mar 2025Superbloom in Carrizo Plain National Monument, California, United States
20 Mar 2024Spring equinox
25 Jun 2024Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA
Owl be seeing you
4 Oct 2024World Space Week begins
Colors of spring
29 May 20261953 Mount Everest Expedition
28 Aug 2024Paralympic Games begin in Paris
26 Feb 2024Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, Canada
8 Jul 2024Blueberries growing in the wild
Nap your worries away
31 Dec 2023Happy New Years Eve!
The bears of summer
14 Jun 2025Trooping the Colour
12 Mar 2024Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA
14 May 2025Porto Flavia, Sulcis-Iglesiente, Sardinia, Italy
20 Apr 2024Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA