Celebrating Yi Peng 6 Nov 2025

Celebrating Yi Peng

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:

Stones on the solstice
22 Jan 2024Walton Lighthouse, Santa Cruz, California, USA
A vibrant, sun-drenched island
5 Dec 2023Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles, Bavaria, Germany
19 Mar 2024Cave Dale and Peveril Castle, Derbyshire
18 Nov 2023Polar bear season in Manitoba
4 Mar 2025Happy Fat Tuesday!
23 Jan 2024Maldives
Solo on the savanna
8 Dec 2025Christmas lights on buildings of Domaso, Lake Como, Italy
15 Mar 2024Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California, USA
31 Dec 2023Happy New Years Eve!
20 Dec 2025Christmas star lanterns, Germany
29 Mar 2024South Stack Lighthouse, Holyhead, Wales
1 Dec 2025Antarctica Day
29 Aug 2024Castellfollit de la Roca, Catalonia, Spain
9 Mar 2024Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico, USA
30 Oct 2023Common raven
15 Dec 2025Spiegelgracht canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Here we go!
One giant leap for mankind
8 Mar 2025International Womens Day
24 Dec 2023Christmas Eve
A high-flying royal tradition
26 Jul 2024Summer Olympics begin in Paris
17 Nov 2024Red deer stag in Glen Affric, Scotland
15 Aug 2025Spotted eagle rays
12 Nov 2024Arches National Park, Utah, United States
Where are these spectacular peaks?
Colors of spring