Phi Ta Khon — Ghost Festival
Buddhist Party and Masks · Dan Sai (Loei), Thailand
The festival
For three days, the small town of Dan Sai, in the mountains of Loei (northeastern Thailand), is invaded by spirits: hundreds of men and boys parade in patchwork costumes and hairdressed masks of Phi Ta Khon — a large woven bamboo hat (gluant rice basket) prolonged with a long-snouted coconut face, painted in flamboyant colors.
Phi Ta Khon is the heart of the festival of Bun Luang, which combines Buddhist rite with animistic beliefs: according to legend, when Prince Vistantara — the penultimate incarnation of the Buddha — returned from exile, the joy was such that even the dead rose up to join the procession. Dances, drums, jokes (sometimes grivots, fertility symbols) and processions to the Wat Phon Chai temple attracted more than 100,000 visitors to a city of a few thousand inhabitants.
The dates, once set by the mediums, usually fall on the first weekend following the sixth full moon.
Good to know
Edition 2026: June 20–22 (TAT calendar). Dates announced each year; they slide between mid-June and early July.